Diamondbacks Manager Explains Recent Lineup Change

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo recently altered his approach to his usual lineup. On Tuesday, August 12, star outfielder Corbin Carroll dropped to third in the order.

Taking Carroll's usual place in the leadoff spot was Geraldo Perdomo. Perdomo has been the leadoff man before, but that has generally been in case of injury or rest days.

Carroll, meanwhile, had not hit in the three-hole in over a full calendar year.

Since that change, Carroll has gone just 3-for-17 with a double and two walks. Perdomo, meanwhile, has gone 4-for-15 (.267) with a double, a homer and two walks. His homer came off former Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly.

While those results don't jump off the page, the D-backs have won three of four (and three straight prior to their loss at Coors Field) with that lineup construction.

On Friday, speaking to Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns and Gambo, manager Torey Lovullo explained why the change was made.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo Explains Lineup Change

"The players play the game. I have conversations with the players before I do something like that," Lovullo said.

"I don't want to all of a sudden move their desk from inside of the office to somewhere in the hallway, I want to make sure they know when they walk into the department the next day, that they know what's going on.

"[It's] something I've been thinking about for a little while. Look, [Perdomo] is an on-base machine. He sees pitches. It's five-to-seven pitches per at-bat. You can see what he did [Thursday night] leading off the game.

"He gets on and we get another batter on it's a three-run home run and ball game. So I just wanted to make sure that I put the guys in the right position. When they slug there's going to be a chance to score a crooked number," Lovullo said.

The manager said putting an on-base-oriented player like Perdomo in that spot sets the table for the two All-Stars behind him in Carroll and Ketel Marte.

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"I want to put [Perdomo] in front of two guys that should be allowed to free swing and go up there and have a 'go' mentality on an 0-0 pitch they could knock out of the stadium.

"it just made a lot of sense. The right-handed version of [Marte] protects the left-on-left version of Corbin Carroll.

"The 2018-19 version of me as a manager would have said, 'No way I'm not changing.' But I've evolved over the course of time. I have to be flexible, I have to see things a little bit different and this made a lot of sense," Lovullo said.

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