Torey Lovullo has been leading the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2017. A former infielder who played for seven different MLB teams, Lovullo moved into coaching with the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox before Arizona gave him his first shot at managing. Now, as other managers across the league lose their jobs, Lovullo finds himself in an uneasy spot.
Pressure Builds Around Torey Lovullo’s Job Security
At 27-31, the Diamondbacks are sitting nine games back in the NL West. They trail the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, who are both chasing the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. Sure, Arizona is 18 games ahead of the last-place Colorado Rockies, but that’s hardly a reason to celebrate with the Dodgers well ahead.
Torey Lovullo discusses the Shaun Larkin send of Pavin Smith that snuffed out a rally in the eighth when down 4 runs pic.twitter.com/pTLIGt6Y9A
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) June 1, 2025
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that while the Diamondbacks are struggling, they aren’t planning to make any quick moves with Lovullo. Still, the fan frustration is growing, and the pressure is starting to show.
Arizona recently went 2-9 across a tough stretch against the Nationals, Pirates, Cardinals, and Dodgers. Oddly enough, one of those two wins came against Los Angeles. Outside of the Cardinals and Dodgers, the other teams are all well below .500, making the disappointing run even more puzzling.
“These are very challenging times, I’m not going to lie,” Lovullo said. “We’re in a huge grind, every one of us. We’re a really good baseball team, and we should not be three games under .500.”
That quote came before Arizona dropped its most recent game, 11-7, to the Nationals. The last time they won a series was back on May 16–18, when they took two out of three versus the Rockies. The series was wild: a shutout win, a 14-12 loss, and a 1-0 win. Against the league’s worst team, it was still a rollercoaster.
Offense Isn’t the Problem For Arizona — Pitching and Defense Are
Nightengale pointed to sloppy defense and inconsistent pitching as Arizona’s biggest issues. The Diamondbacks have scored six or more runs in 23 games this season — and lost 10 of them. That includes three games where they scored 11 runs and still walked away with a loss.
That trend has continued. In four of their last five games, Arizona’s offense has shown up, but the pitching has let them down. Outside of a 10-1 blowout against the Pirates, they’ve lost games by scores of 9-6, 9-7, and 11-7. When your offense is putting up numbers like that, you expect to win more often than not.
They also haven’t won back-to-back games in over two weeks. That kind of inconsistency makes it tough to build momentum, especially in a division where the competition is fierce.
Still, according to Nightengale, there are no signs the front office is ready to make a move on Lovullo. For now, his job seems safe — but in a season that’s already seen a few managers lose their positions, the Diamondbacks can’t afford to keep sliding.