Back to Basics for Lovullo's Diamondbacks in Rematch with Reds

A critical four game series between two Wild Card hopefuls kicks off tonight at Chase Field

The Diamondbacks (66-61) take on the Cincinnati Reds (67-61) for the first of four games tonight at Chase Field, first pitch at 6:40. The D-backs trail the Reds and Cubs by half a game in the NL Wild Card standings. The Reds swept a double header from the Angels yesterday to leapfrog past the D-backs who were off yesterday. 

Lineups

Michael McDermott

Merrill Kelly, RHP, 10-5, 3.13 ERA toes the rubber for Arizona and will face rookie left-hander Brandon Williamson, who is 4-3 with a 4.47 ERA in 17 starts.  The Reds feature three rookie of the year candidates in the 2-3-4 spots in their order, with Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, and Spencer Steer continuing to have good to excellent seasons.  The Diamondbacks Rookie of the Year candidate and current  front runner Corbin Carroll has been dropped to 7th in the order due a two month long slump and a left hander on the mound.  

The last time the two teams met was at the tail end of a D-backs nine game road trip out of the all star break in late July.  The  D-backs were a struggling team at that time and were swept three straight in that series.  Williamson got one of the wins, handcuffing Arizona for six innings giving up just three hits and one run in a 4-2 Reds victory.  

Kelly did not pitch in that series. He gutted through an uncharacteristic outing his last time out August 19th against the Padres in which he did not have good control, walking four batters. He will need to avoid issuing free passes to a great base running team tonight

As the D-backs head into this stretch of the season where every game feels like a playoff game, Torey Lovullo talked about the approach he is taking. "I've tried to just break it down to the granular and focus on today. That's what I think our guys are doing. We just keep reminding them today's game being the most important game on the schedule."

Back to Basics

Lovullo went on the emphasize the need to prepare, especially for a good team like Cincinnati. A clear example of that was taking place before the game. A group of 8-9  Diamondbacks were seen on the field taking extensive bunting practice for over 30 minutes. This isn't the first time recently they've taken extra bunting practice, after some high profile bunting failures over the last couple of week. Asked what prompted that extra work a suddenly impassioned  Lovullo didn't mince words. 

"This season is coming down to one game. 100%. Book it. Book it! I want to know when I put the bunt sign on that guy's got it. I don't want to worry if he has it. I want to put that bunt sign on I want him to think I've got, I want every face in the dugout to know he's got it because I've seen him work on it."

"We've got to be better at it plain and simple, we've got to be better bunters. We had some opportunities early in the year and we were very successful at it. We felt like we came out of spring training hot and we trained ourselves right and it slipped away from us, and maybe the technique got away from us, so we're going back to our spring training philosophy." 

At the same time the D-backs continue to emphasize defense and all the players were out taking  extra infield practice as well. It's notable that during "clubhouse hours" when the media gets to speak with players there are usually very few players in the clubhouse hanging out. They're almost always out doing extra work during this time. As usual, Gold Glover Christian Walker leads by example when it comes to putting in the time to improve and stay sharp. 

#GoldGlovers aren’t born, they’re made…..and maintained. Here is #Dbacks Christian Walker doing mini glove drills. He works on his defense every day pic.twitter.com/q4U5I2qhtz

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) August 24, 2023

The Diamondbacks will need to play a sharp, crisp brand of baseball from here on out, similar to their first half. They do not have the firepower in their lineup or depth in their rotation to overcome poor execution in the little things. Look for these themes during the remaining games to see if they can maintain this focus. 

Listen to Lovullo down below: