D-backs’ Lovullo on team’s recent woes: I’m up at night more than usual
May 22, 2018, 6:21 PM
Arizona Diamondbacks' Daniel Descalso (3) celebrates his run scored against the Milwaukee Brewers with David Peralta, left, and manager Torey Lovullo (17) during the fourth inning of a baseball game Monday, May 14, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In less than two weeks, the Arizona Diamondbacks went from 24-11 and the top of the National League to 25-22 and second in the National League West.
Losing 11 of their last 12 is quite the shocking turn, even with the injuries the D-backs have had to battle through.
It’s a strange funk the team is in, one D-backs manager Torey Lovullo can’t quite figure out but knows that this is just sometimes the way baseball is.
“I definitely am up at night a little bit more than I normally am but that’s just human nature,” Lovullo said on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns & Gambo. “The season has these moments, we know that, but this one is a little bit untraditional for what we are capable of doing and that’s my message to these guys.”
Lovullo repeatedly noted this is not on the team’s effort and he’s not going to lash out on them.
The D-backs are hitting .217, the worst number in baseball. That can be linked to multiple players slumping and underperforming at the same time.
“You look at the team and they’re all not quite hitting up to their capabilities and that’s what’s so frustrating and that’s what’s keeping me up at night,” Lovullo said.
Lovullo said the furthest he’s gotten in assessing the “why” of the offensive struggles is not blaming effort.
“I know it’s not for a lack of effort like I mentioned,” he said. “I know it’s not that we aren’t following the process and preparation and getting ready and focusing throughout the course of the game. That’s not the reason why this is happening.
“I feel like we are probably putting a little too much pressure on ourselves and trying to be the guy that’s going to step up there and execute and get us out of this moment. They want to jump and try to be someone they’re not.”
