Lovullo Bonds with Team over Fantasy Football Draft

The Arizona Diamondbacks manager talked about how his batting practice for fantasy football went at Fenway Park last week

Jul 31, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo (17) looks on prior to a game against the Washington Nationals at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Prior to the Arizona Diamondbacks game against the New York Mets on August 27th, 2024 at 6:40 PM, D-backs Manager Torey Lovullo spoke about his highly talked about batting practice at Fenway Park to determine the player's fantasy football draft order.

Describing his BP, Lovullo said, "Subpar. I felt like I got to get something over the Green Monster and it just never happened. I probably hit 10, 15 feet up and it was my best bullet. It's all I got. It was soft toss. I need the ball to come in fast so I can hit it fast and send it out. It was a lot of fun."

He continued with "The last time I took BP I think was 16' or 17' in Houston and that was regular live BP and I know I went deep a few times. I was pretty stoked about that...I broke down the swings, it was a pretty good swing."

"Head down, things were working pretty good. I was a .239 career hitter trying to launch balls over the Monster soft toss though, not a pitched ball," Lovullo shared with reporters.

How did this all come together so fast? Well, it turns out that this was in the process of happening for quite some time but once the players confirmed they wanted Lovullo to do this, it happened extremely fast.

"This one just sprang up. I said it to part of the group that was putting together the draft...and they asked me 'Would you be willing to do something a little bit different if it came down to it, would you want to take BP and I okayed it a month and a half ago."

"Then really, Thursday night, Friday morning I got the call that said 'Yeah you're taking BP tomorrow.' I was like Oh my God, are you sure about that so I fired it.

So, how did the whole process work? How did they truly determine the draft order?

"I had 15 swings, 20 swings to get loose. We were trying to get the Trackman set up to see about the overall distance to determine how far the ball was going...I just was the batter...it wasn't working so they were just going with the eye test and for the first few, they were numbered 1-12 and it would just say number one, wham, and then somebody would flip another ball, number eight, wham."

D’backs manager Torey Lovullo took BP at Fenway to set his team’s fantasy football draft order. Each ball was numbered & the distance he hit each determined position. He hit the wall on Merrill Kelley’s baseball (he goes 1st) and popped up on Joc Pederson’s (he’s last) pic.twitter.com/aohDpCSmAE

— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) August 24, 2024

So, how did Joc Pederson wind up last? How did Pederson feel about that? By the way, Merrill Kelly got first with a ball that hit the Green Monster.

"The first ball that I found out I was hitting, somebody said, hey this is Joc, number five, and flipped it to me and I got tight and I popped it up and that was it... They were all out there just putting up in left field where the balls were going and it was a fun time..."

"He finished twelfth, I popped it up but I knew it right away that I ain't going to hear the end of that but he said he wants either 1-4 or he wants to get down near the tail and get two picks in a row," Lovullo explained.

As Lovullo has spoken about often, a connected team is a very dangerous team and this bonding experience between Lovullo having and his players speaks to just how connected this team is. It also helps to explain why this team is performing so well even without Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno.

"It was a lot of fun. In actuality, the players don't really see that side of me very often. I get out there and show a different side of me. We all had some good laughs and they responded. I don't worry about their ability to separate it. They see that side of me and they go out and play their best game on Friday night. That was a really good moment for all of us."

"A great series and I was just glad I could be a part of their fun and games and select their order. It was a lot of fun for me."

Lovullo explained how the team needs these light moments amidst a tough and grueling season and that it's important for players to see their manager have fun and in a different light than just their boss.

"I think it's needed. I talk about balance here all the time, days off, take advantage of it, spend time with your family, friends, children, so this was a totally different element and they see this side of me from time to time. We have a mid-season team party at our house and they see a different side of me there, it's a corn-hole tournament and I think it's nice to see the human side of your manager."

Lovullo ended with this, "In years past, the managers I played for, I didn't even know what kind of car they drove or where they lived. I didn't know if they were married but the game's changed a little bit. If I can give them that side of me, I think it refreshes them to see that I'm a human being and there's a nice balance there. They know that they have responsibilities to do on the backside of that. It seems to work out very well."