What to know? Highs, lows, Lovullo's status among Diamondbacks talking points

A day after it was revealed Torey Lovullo would return for another year as Arizona Diamondbacks manager, he and general manager Mike Hazen met with reporters at Chase Field for their annual end-of-season session.

The day had an unusual feel. Rather than being entirely weighed down by disappointment over the five-game losing streak that ended the Diamondbacks’ season — and their long-shot playoff hopes — there also was an element of pride over how well the club played in the two months after the organization’s trade-deadline sell-off.

The two covered a lot of ground in the nearly 40-minute session. Here are some of the things that stood out as they looked back on the season and looked toward 2026.

Diamondbacks leaning into defense

Whenever Hazen talked about the Diamondbacks’ performance over the final two months — and even when he thought back on their struggles early in the year – he seemed to keep coming back to the defense. He thought the defense helped make the pitching staff look a good bit better in August and September — and lot worse in April through July.

And he seemed determined that the Diamondbacks must remain a strong defensive team.

“I think as much as we were all complaining about the results of the pitching staff in the first half, it was very difficult for me to tease out where the pitching wasn’t up to par and where the defense was below,” Hazen said. “Those things were in combination with each other.”

He repeatedly mentioned the performance of Blaze Alexander at third base and how his strong defense might have helped prevent an inning from going off the rails for the pitching staff.

He saw a lesson in it. Though the Diamondbacks peeled away third baseman Eugenio Suarez and first baseman Josh Naylor at the deadline, the offense remained strong enough despite their absences.

“I think we’re capable of having a little less, maybe, thunder in the middle of the lineup,” Hazen said, “if we’re offsetting that with a much better defensive team.”

Diamondbacks GM talks about holes to fill

By and large, Hazen made it sound like his position player group might not change all that much during the offseason, which is largely consistent with what he has said in recent weeks.

He did not offer specifics on who would play where. Alexander, Jordan Lawlar and Tim Tawa, among others, offer intriguing versatility, though Hazen sounded as if he might want to keep players locked into certain positions.

Hazen did say Lawlar was planning to play winter ball for the second year in a row. While he’s at it, the club would like to see Lawlar log time in center field to better determine if that might be a viable position for him.

Hazen sounded like he might augment his young core with some veteran role players.

“It’s still going to be on us to surround those guys with the right veteran players moving into next year,” Hazen said.

Most of the heavy lifting will be on the pitching staff. The club likely will look to add two starting pitchers to slot into the rotation, and Hazen said finding a closer would “probably” be among his priorities this winter.

“I think setting up the bullpen from the ninth inning moving forward makes a lot of sense,” Hazen said. “I think it’s been where we’ve had success. We’ll see where that takes us.

“I think we have more to do than just the closer in the bullpen.”

He mentioned a desire to have a stronger second wave of pitching available in Triple-A Reno should the need arise.

Diamondbacks and Lovullo’s job performance

Early in the session, Hazen called the team’s play in August and September a “credit to Torey and the coaches that the kids never quit” after the trade deadline. He later gave a more impassioned defense of the job Lovullo has done, citing the growth and development of shortstop Geraldo Perdomo among his manager’s accomplishments.

“We are here to win and lose, and we will ultimately be judged on wins and losses; I’m not scurrying from that one iota,” Hazen said. “There’s a lot here, in my mind, that Torey does so well that puts our players in a position to have success and be confident and feel good about what they’re doing on a daily basis.

“It’s also on me to provide him with the resources to go out there and win baseball games, and I did not do that this year.”

Lovullo said he would have been at peace had the club decided to move on, knowing he did the best he could, but he described Monday, Sept. 29, as “a really big day in my life” because he was told he would be back.

“I’m not ready to walk away from this,” Lovullo said. “I want to win a world championship here in the Valley. I want to celebrate with the fans. I have dreams that we all talk about. I’m just grateful for that being in place still.”

Payroll limitations for the Diamondbacks

Though team officials have been saying for months that the club is likely to cut payroll from this year’s record level, Hazen said what he always does when asked about the subject: that he will have more than enough to put a good team on the field.

“I don’t care what the number is,” Hazen said. “What we have, we’ll figure it out. We have a lot of good young players. We have a lot of good young minor league players that all had really good years. We traded off players at the deadline and picked up nine new players.

“We should have access in the trade market to make improvements to this roster without money.”

The 2025 Diamondbacks started too slowly

Each of the past two seasons, the Diamondbacks have had, at best, mediocre first halves only to eventually find their footing later in the year. This year’s slow start was particularly crippling in that it led to their decision to sell in July.

Lovullo said he already has ideas in mind that he hopes lead to sharper play early next season.

“I feel very strongly that we need to create a little sense of urgency in spring training that, when you walk into a big-league season and start a big-league season, it’s not OK to just kind of put your foot on the gas pedal and make a lane change,” Lovullo said. “I want to gas it and get in the fast lane as soon as possible.”

He added: “I’ve already stated that with some of the one-on-ones what I want guys to do when they walk into spring training, I want gloves broken in. I want arms in shape. I don’t want some infielders to make mistakes because it’s four days into spring training.

“I want it to be crisp and accurate from Day 1.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pitching, defense, Lovullo highlight Arizona Diamondbacks season wrap

What to know? Highs, lows, Lovullo’s status among Diamondbacks talking points

Tags: