Torey Lovullo Expresses Frustration with Diamondbacks' Bullpen

It feels like a horror movie stuck on repeat. No matter how big the lead may be, the Arizona Diamondbacks' young, struggling, battered bullpen continues to blow even the safest of games.

Though the D-backs' relievers had been on somewhat of a hot streak prior, that all came crashing down in a disastrous series loss to the Colorado Rockies over the past weekend.

Some choose to blame manager Torey Lovullo's bullpen decisions. Certainly, some mistakes have been made in that department, as Lovullo has admitted himself.

But ultimately, it's up to the relievers themselves to get outs — and they haven't.

On his recent appearance with Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo, Lovullo dove into one of the uglier topics plaguing the 2025 Diamondbacks.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo Addresses Bullpen Woes

The manager called the unstable nature of the bullpen "frustrating."

"We're putting ourselves in a position to win baseball games. ... When we got on a little mini run there up until four or five games ago, our bullpen was functioning at a high level, so we know they're capable of doing it."

Lovullo said the aspect that bothers him is the free passes issued. On numerous occasions, walks, hit batters and free runners have spelled disaster for Arizona.

"I think the frustration that I've experienced is that you've got to put the ball on the plate," Lovullo said.

"You've got to know where the ball is going. The walks are driving me crazy, especially in Coors Field. You get into a leverage count where you're ahead. Big league pitchers put you away. You don't give up 0-2 hits."

"A lot of those little things we've got to tighten up. When we do it right, we win games. We get out of innings. But we're losing leads late. It's extremely frustrating, but we know the landscape.

"Mariano Rivera's not walking in that door. We've got to go out there, and these boys are getting an opportunity, and they've got to take advantage of it. Some are, and we just need to be a little bit more consistent."

Arizona's Trade Deadline fire sale has given Lovullo some new arms to use, but they're mostly young and inexperienced. That lends itself to results that may be excellent one day, but poor the next.

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That puts Lovullo in a tough spot, as roles are unclear. There is no designated closer, setup man or seventh-inning arm depth chart for him to use on a reliable basis.

"Somebody asked me in the scrum the other day, how are you figuring out what buttons to push?There are no buttons. Everything is just fluid and wide open," Lovullo said.

"I like to use the ninth inning, have a closer, set it up from that inning, work it backwards, and fill it in in that space. ... There's a strategy and a reason for why these moves are made. They're well thought-out.

"When it doesn't work, it's extremely frustrating, and that's where we're at right now," he said.

As Lovullo said, there's no Hall of Fame closer about to walk through the doors of Chase Field. Arizona will have to live or die by their young group of relievers for the time being, and it will come with ups and downs.

But there were certainly a lot of downs in their last series.

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