D-backs’ Torey Lovullo finishes 4th for NL Manager of the Year, former Sun Devil Pat Murphy wins

Arizona Diamondbacks skipper Torey Lovullo finished fourth in the voting for 2024 National League Manager of the Year, the BBWAA announced on Tuesday.

Milwaukee Brewers manager and former Arizona State head baseball coach Pat Murphy won the award after his first year leading the club following longtime skipper Craig Counsell’s departure. Milwaukee won the NL Central with a 93-69 record.

For the American League, Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt — who played for Lovullo in Arizona from 2020-21 — earned the hardware for his first season managing the Guardians. Cleveland won the AL Central with 92 victories.

Lovullo received two second-place votes and two third-place votes for eight total points from 30 BBWAA ballots. Murphy received 27 of 30 first-place votes for a landslide win, San Diego’s Mike Shildt came in second and New York Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza in third.

Torey Lovullo finished fourth in the NL Manager of the Year vote. pic.twitter.com/uT7zVrW3xp

— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) November 19, 2024

Vogt likewise received 27 first-place votes to beat out fellow finalists Matt Quatraro (Kansas City) and A.J. Hinch (Detroit).

Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt wins AL Manager of the Year, receiving 27 of the 30 first-place votes. Here’s the full vote: pic.twitter.com/6V8asi5Ye2

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 19, 2024

Lovullo’s Diamondbacks had to battle to stay afloat through a difficult first half of the season filled with injures and slow starts. Arizona fell to 25-32 at one point but managed to stick around .500 through the end of June. From July 3 through Aug. 25, the D-backs went 44-12 to climb into the top NL Wild Card spot.

The D-backs finished with 89 wins, five more than 2023 but not enough to make the playoffs. The final eight days of the season were brutal, as Arizona finished 2-5 and missed the cut by tiebreakers.

Arizona had to overcome injuries to Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen, Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, Paul Sewald, Gabriel Moreno, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Alek Thomas, Geraldo Perdomo and Ryne Nelson throughout the season. The pitching staff struggled with a 4.63 team ERA.

At the same time, the Diamondbacks worked their platoons aggressively and scored more runs than any other team in baseball. The D-backs won their highest number of games since 2017 — when Lovullo won Manager of the Year — despite the disastrous finish.

The 40-year-old Vogt is the first to go from a major league player to Manager of the Year in just two years. The previous fastest was Joe Girardi from 2003 to 2006, when he won NL Manager of the Year with the Florida Marlins.

“I got way more excited when any one of our guys hit a home run than I ever did myself or a big play or a strikeout,” Vogt said. “I think that’s the beauty of this role and this job — it’s not about you. It’s about your players and it’s about their successes.”

Vogt told Arizona Sports during spring training he learned a lot from how Lovullo communicated with and treated his players.

Murphy had an unusual career path to big league success — he was a longtime college coach at Notre Dame and Arizona State before moving to the professional ranks in 2010. Murphy coached ASU baseball from 1995-2009, leading the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament for 10 straight years. He coached big league standouts Dustin Pedroia, Andre Ethier, Ian Kinsler and current ASU coach Willie Bloomquist. He resigned amid investigations in NCAA rules violations.

That's our guy!

First coach in baseball history to be named a Collegiate Coach of the Year and MLB Manager of the Year.#O2V /// #MLBU https://t.co/LZc5rTVmRr

— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) November 20, 2024

He later worked in the Padres’ minor league system until 2015 when he was hired to be Milwaukee’s bench coach under Counsell, who played for Murphy at Notre Dame.

“I just didn’t want to let the Brewers down,” Murphy said. “From the ownership, to the front office, to the players and the coaching staff. I didn’t want to let them down. I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to do something to advance the needle a little bit.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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