(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Major League Baseball’s regular season has come and gone, and many of the non-postseason teams are facing lots of questions this winter. One of which concerns the managerial position and who will fill that role. A few teams have already addressed this, including the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals.   

The Arizona Diamondbacks won’t be one of those teams looking for a new skipper after they extended manager Torey Lovullo’s contract through 2022 with a club option for 2023.

This comes after a 110-loss 2021 season, the second-worst mark in franchise history.

Lovullo was a first-time manager when he took the reins of Arizona in 2017. His first three years as Diamondbacks manager were winning seasons, with his best being 2017, when the club went 93-69 and won the National League Wild Card Game. The 2017 season was the last time he managed in the postseason, and the Diamondbacks have gone from a potential contender to a rebuilding team over the last few seasons.

Lovullo has a career managerial record of 337-371, which changed drastically due to the 2021 season. 

He has familiarized himself with the players, and is seemingly very well-liked within the clubhouse and front office.

His managerial skills during games are when he receives the most criticism.

Bullpen usage, and his tendency to sometimes pull a starting pitcher too soon, has been a flaw that started to show through in 2021. The Diamondbacks bullpen, which has been an area of weakness for a few seasons, didn’t provide favorable results to back up Lovullo’s decision-making. The Diamondbacks finished with the second-worst bullpen earned run average in baseball at 5.11. They also had the highest bullpen WHIP in baseball, at 1.52.

The trust in Lovullo to extend him for another year, and possibly two, shows that the Diamondbacks want him to lead them through the rebuild. Whether that means he sticks around as the manager when they are a winning ball club again or not remains to be seen. For now, Lovullo is going to be there for the dog days.

The club is also making some big changes throughout the rest of the coaching staff, as only four positions remain secure. Bullpen coach Mike Fetters, first base coach Dave McKay, third base coach Tony Perezchica all will remain with the team in their current roles for 2022. 2015 American League Manager of the Year Jeff Banister will join the Diamondbacks as a bench coach as well, leaving a vacancy at pitching coach.

The Diamondbacks also hired Joe Mather to be their next hitting coach on Thursday. Mather has spent the last two seasons as an assistant hitting coach with the Cincinnati Reds.

The Diamondbacks’ offensive struggles proved poor enough to incite a change in leadership after former hitting coach Darnell Coles was fired in June. The persisting lack of production led to co-hitting coaches Rick Short and Drew Hedman being relieved of their roles as well.

In 2021, the Diamondbacks finished in the bottom of the league in batting average and strikeouts and hit the second-fewest home runs in all of baseball. While injuries hurt the starting lineup, David Peralta, Josh Rojas, Nick Ahmed and Pavin Smith remained healthy for most of the year. 

Pitching coach Matt Herges was relieved of his duties after two disappointing seasons at the helm of the pitching staff, although he was offered an undecided role within the organization. Herges was hired by the Diamondbacks following the 2019 season. During his tenure with the team, the pitching staff underperformed heavily.

The 2021 staff finished with the second-worst team ERA of 5.13, second-highest team opponent batting average of .267, as well as being among the league’s worst in walks, and home runs allowed.

Mike Butcher, Herges’ predecessor, manned a slightly better staff in 2019, as Arizona was toward the middle of the pack in team ERA, batting average against, home runs allowed, walks and strikeouts.

While 2022 is not projected to be much better for the Diamondbacks, the coaches that are brought in will have a major impact on the future of the organization.

Contact the reporter at mgaraffa@asu.edu.