Lineup and Roster Changes Explained by Diamondbacks Manager

Jeff Brigham was a non-roster invitee who was sent to Reno at the very end of spring training. Lovullo recalled his conversation with the pitcher at that time.

"Just make sure that you flush what's going on. You've got to go down, make some pitches, string together some good outings, and you never know what's possible. You'll find yourself back in the big leagues if you're doing your job.

"It was nice to see him walk into my office when he got here. And we had a quick moment of kind of celebrating that call-up because it is a story of perseverance. It'sfrustrating when you have the amount of service time that he does and you don't make the team," Lovullo said.

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Ildemaro Vargas

"Everybody that has been in this organization knows Ildemaro, knows he's got great bat-to-ball skills. He can play a variety of positions. Switch-hitter, gives me a lot of versatility off the bench. And I'm excited for this call-up. He almost made the team out of spring training. And we chose Garrett Hampson. [Vargas] continued to grind. And now that he got this call, I know he's excited to come in here and help us win some baseball games."

Kevin Ginkel

"He was kind of floundering. He's got great stuff. We know what it looks like. I just felt, from my seat and the things that I saw from time to time, he lacked the finish and the consistency of pitches. He's got a great two-seam fastball, a great four-seam fastball, yet he was turning away from that and going to the secondary stuff. And I encouraged him to get back to that good two-seam fastball that you can run in on righties and use that four-seam off of that and land pitches."

Ginkel missed the first four weeks of the season with a shoulder injury that came up in Spring Training. Following a rehab process, he was thrown right into the mix of high-leverage situations. Lovullo seemed to regret that a little.

"He was ready and then all of a sudden I just ran him right into some games and maybe never gave him a chance to fill up a zone with all of his stuff. We felt like there was opportunity for him to do that through the rehab process, but there was a very fine line of him getting the job done versus not getting the job done in very crucial games. It got better, but I just think overall the consistency of his pitches wasn't there and that was the reason for the move."

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Jordan Lawlar

Lovullo said that it wasn't a surprise that he struggled offensively to adjust. Where he was looking for high-end performance was on the bases and defensively. Those things should be predictable.

"I think he was more than adequate early on. He was making good plays, but there was a couple breakdowns at second base and that's just such an important position with [Ketel Marte] being down and needing days off. We need somebody to go consistently make plays from the defensive side of the ball."

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Geraldo Perdomo Lineup Shift

Lovullo put Geraldo Perdomo in the third spot in the order on Friday. That's he first time in his career the shortstop has hit that position. Perdomo is hitting .292/.391/.453, .845 OPS with 39 RBI on the season.

"It's my job to be fluid, my job to make adjustments," Lovullo said. "I've been very stubborn with being late to the show, late to the party with making those adjustments. I felt like he's one of our best hitters and deserves to get that extra at-bat. A player that's hitting third gets more at-bats than a player that's hitting ninth."

Lovullo was asked about analytics that point to the number three hitter to be the most likely hitter to come up with two out and nobody on base in a lineup over the course of the season. In a light-hearted moment, the manager relayed an interaction with his mother.

"My mom told me to throw the analytics out the window today, so make a new lineup and throw out analytics. I'm listening to my mom on this one," he said.

It should be noted that Ketel Marte has insisted to bat either first or second in the order and does not like to bat third. Lovullo accomodates this and mentioned the track record batting third is not good for Marte. The track record somewhat supports the player's preference.

The D-backs are fifth in the league in runs scored, averaging 4.98 per game. But Perdomo has been among the best hitters on the team all year during his offensive breakout season, hitting .315 with runners in scoring position. The top three hitters in the lineup get the most at-bats. Perdomo has traditionally batted at the bottom of the order when both Marte and Carroll are in the lineup.