Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen voices his support for Torey Lovullo
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen said Torey Lovullo has his vote of confidence as manager of the club for the 2026 season.
Torey Lovullo will return as the manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026.Lovullo, the longest-tenured manager in franchise history, received support from his players.
Torey Lovullo will return as Diamondbacks manager in 2026, a source said on Monday, Sept. 29, ending speculation that he might take the fall for the club’s disappointing 2025 season.
Lovullo, the winningest and longest-tenured manager in franchise history, caught criticism for some of his in-game decisions throughout the year, but he also oversaw a stunning second-half turnaround in which the Diamondbacks, despite a rash of injuries and a trade deadline sell-off, managed to remain in the wild-card race until the final weekend of the season.
His return was welcome news for many of his players, some of whom were at Chase Field clearing out their lockers when they received the news.
“That’s great for Torey,” right-hander Zac Gallen said. “I’ve loved playing for Torey the past seven years. I think what a lot of people outside of this space, outside of the world of baseball, don’t understand is what it is to be a manager. It’s not always the Xs and Os.
“There’s a lot of managing personalities, a lot of managing the things people don’t necessarily see or take in behind the scenes. I think Torey does a really good job of that.”
Lovullo has been the Diamondbacks manager since the 2017 season. The club has reached the postseason twice in his nine seasons, including making a surprising run to the World Series two years ago. He has a career 664-692 (.490) record.
Lovullo will enter next season in the final year of his contract, a situation that is not unusual for him. He entered the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons as a so-called lame-duck manager before receiving a three-year extension in November 2023.
The injuries and trade-deadline subtractions add variables that make evaluating his job performance this season tricky.
The club lost three key pitchers — top starter Corbin Burnes and top relievers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk all required season-ending elbow surgeries — along with a slew of other relievers and depth arms. The Diamondbacks also traded five veterans off the roster ahead of the July 31 deadline, at which time the club was 51-58 and stuck behind five other clubs for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
But Lovullo’s team proceeded to play well over the final two months of the season and was not eliminated from playoff contention until the 160th game of the season.
“Sellers at the trade deadline and we still had a chance to make the postseason,” Burnes said. “That obviously says something about what he can do with this group.”
Said reliever Ryan Thompson: “I think Torey is an amazing manager. I think he’s an amazing leader. I would go to war for that man. … All I know is we kind of drew the short straw with adversity this year and had a lot of injuries that couldn’t be avoided. That’s just how it goes.”
The Diamondbacks still fell short of the expectations they had entering the year. Despite a franchise-record payroll in the $200 million range — and what looked to be their best roster, on paper, in years — the club went just 80-82, falling three games shy of a playoff spot.
It comes a year after they won 89 games and missed out on a wild card by one game.
Lovullo was the subject of intense criticism over the final week of the season, first for his decision to ask Geraldo Perdomo, his best player this season, to bunt in the 10th inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The move backfired after the Dodgers walked Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno and retired the next two batters without a run scoring. The Dodgers won in 11 innings.
Lovullo also was blamed for the decision the next day to push Gallen’s start back, setting up a bullpen game against the Dodgers, who cruised to an 8-0 win.
Fans also blame Lovullo for his lineup decisions, many of which are made in concert with others in the organization, including the training staff and bullpen usage.
Lovullo has long had the support of general manager Mike Hazen, who believes in his manager’s ability to get the most out of players. The club’s ownership group, however, has seemed open to parting ways with Lovullo at various points — including when the team was struggling midway through the 2023 season — but has opted not to push Hazen for change.
“I’m happy for him,” Gallen said. “I think it’s going to be great. Hopefully, he gets a team next year that is somewhat healthy and is able to be able to (prove) the naysayers and baseball wrong in his capabilities in being a manager.”