Torey Lovullo Blames Self for Christian Walker's Injury

The Diamondbacks' manager spoke of the trade deadline moves to bring in Josh Bell and Dylan Floro and the circumstances of Walker's injury.

Jul 24, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo (17) stands on the field during the national anthem prior to a game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Early this morning, Arizona Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen called Torey Lovullo to run through possible scenarios that might happen as a result of Christian Walker's oblique injury.

Hazen clearly had a target in mind, and wanted to share it with Lovullo and get his take on it. That target was Josh Bell.

The manager could not be more pleased. "I've seen him from across the diamond for a long time, and I know he's a really good baseball player. He hits for power, he gets on base, he's not afraid to be in the middle of everything and he's a winner. That's exciting to me."

"It's an unbelievable pickup. Mike [Hazen] identified there was a need... he got a guy that is going to be able to step right in here. More power to Mike and the vetting process too, as this is a good teammate as well. We want guys like that to come in here and fit like a glove."

The manager was not ready to discuss lineups, and who is going to play when, as he's still processing all of that. Lovullo could not officially say when Bell is supposed to arrive and be activated. He has to travel across the country and there will need to be a corresponding roster move. Pavin Smith was called up to replace Walker on the active roster in the meantime.

Lovullo pivoted the discussion to the downside of the equation, as this trade came about due to the Walker injury. The Gold Glove first baseman was removed from Monday night's game after suffering a low grade oblique strain. Walker was placed on the injured list today and will be out an estimated three weeks according to both the first baseman and Lovullo.

When first told of the trade Lovullo said his first reaction was "that word that begins with an F and ends with a K. It wasn't very pleasing to me because I feel like I'm responsible for it. That was my conversation with Walk today."

Walker has played in every game this season, but assured his manager that the injury had nothing to do with how much he's played. During his own media session Walker said it was just bad luck.

"It stinks it comes at the expense of Christian Walker going on the IL. We're going to miss him, and when I spoke to Walk this morning we had our moment, but he assured me he's going to be fine. I assured him that the team is going to fight for him until he gets back here."

Lovullo took pains to make clear they don't want to rush Walker back.

"When Christian comes back I want 100% of Christian Walker, I don't want him to ease into it. I don't want him to feel anything that's going to linger. I would tell him that even if we didn't have somebody like Josh Bell. I want him to take the right amount of time. Josh Bell lessens the pain of a lot of things but it hurts to lose Christian Walker. That's hard to get over."

The other trade that happened today was acquiring Dylan Floro from the visiting Washington Nationals in exchange for minor league corner infielder Andrew Chaparro.

Floro could be seen walking down the hallway from the Nationals' clubhouse to the Diamondbacks' clubhouse just as Lovullo's press conference was getting underway.

"That just happened a short time ago, switching clubhouses... I don't have a lot to say about it other than he's a tough right-on-right at-bat."

Floro has a large career split, with a .232 BA and .590 OPS against right-hand batters, but a .288 BA and .762 OPS against left-hand batters. Floro has never been an effective high leverage reliever. Expect him to handle middle- and lower-leverage situations.

Lovullo harkened back to the 2018 trade deadline, when Jake Diekman was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Diamondbacks at the same time the Rangers were visiting Chase Field. Ironically, Lovullo's bench coach, Jeff Banister, was the manager of the Rangers at the time.

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