PHOENIX — The past three days of Arizona Diamondbacks baseball entering Wednesday have built up some frustration, capped by an 11-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday that flipped a likely playoff bid to a coin flip.
After the game, manager Torey Lovullo suggested he lit into his team a bit, and on Wednesday, he expanded on what the message was.
“It’s okay to feel the way you’re feeling, it’s okay to think the way you’re thinking, but I bet on you guys,” Lovullo said. “I come in here and I bet on you guys because I love you guys and I care about you guys, but we gotta figure some [expletive] out, and we gotta do it now, there’s no time to waste. I expect your best effort and a focused effort, and I promise you, I will give you mine.”
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“We know he cares about us, we got such a great staff taking care of us in so many ways, and so he was just reiterating the care we have for each other and that he’s got confidence to get it done,” Corbin Carroll described.
Lovullo said he has sat in a lot of those talks throughout his career, which he said ranged from a skipper whining and yelling at himself to a much-needed message for the room to absorb. He’s seen toaster ovens flying across and tables flipped over with full spreads on them.
The Diamondbacks still control their path to the postseason with four games left despite the disaster 8-0 blown lead and series loss to San Francisco. Arizona entered Wednesday in the third NL Wild Card spot, a half-game up on the Atlanta Braves.
“I just wanted them to know where we were, and I wanted our footing to be solid because we’re okay,” Lovullo said. “We’re gonna be just fine. I could have been critical. I could have blasted off on them. I’ve been in that range. It’s ugly. But I chose not to do that because nobody needed to be ripped into. With four days to go, I didn’t need to start pinpointing guys and targeting guys.”
The Diamondbacks have four games remaining, and manager Torey Lovullo shared his general message to the club after last night’s loss. pic.twitter.com/baqYUZYiGO
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) September 26, 2024
First pitch on Wednesday between the Diamondbacks and Giants is at 6:40 p.m. on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app.