Optimistic Torey Lovullo Addresses the Media

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo hosted a Zoom press conference today with the media and addressed a wide range of topics.

You can watch the entire presser here:

A quick synopsis:

· He is optimistic on the negotiations, and is not ready to throw in the towel on a deal being reached.

· He remains optimistic there will be a 2020 season and is not ready or willing to “go there with regards to considering the 2020 season being scrapped

· He has not attended the workouts. The “working coaches” who throw BP, hit groundballs, etc. need to be there as priority.

· He detailed however how the workouts are conducted and players are being kept apart. Staggered small groups taking BP on different days, 1 pitcher- 1 Catcher at a time throwing bullpens, etc.

· Most of the players are in attendance in turns.

· Nobody in the organization, players or coaches has expressed reservation or is balking about coming back.

· Starling Marte will be there with the team once they startup. He’s been working out at home and will be back at facility when required to be back.

· Will use DH the way they do in interleague, as an opportunity to get players a break. Will look to mix and match based on matchups

· Will look to limit starters workload initially. They’ll be capped at 5 IP tops to begin with and then let the pitchers indicate how they’re doing strength wise. Words like “Piggy Backing” were used as well.

While nothing surprising in the press conference, it was still nice to be listening in and hearing the back and forth between Torey and the Media. Of most interest perhaps were his comments about the details of how they are running workouts and how he is thinking about managing workloads down the road.