D-backs Owner Ken Kendrick Explains Keeping Torey Lovullo

The Arizona Diamondbacks' owner gave his reasoning for retaining his manager.

Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick hugs manager Torey Lovullo (17) as the team are passed out National League Championship Rings prior to a game against the Rockies at Chase Field on March 29, 2024. | Patrick Breen / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Monday, reports surfaced that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be retaining manager Torey Lovullo for the 2026 season.

After a season so full of disappointment and heartbreak, there was some level of uncertainty as to whether Lovullo would be back for 2026, but the D-backs ultimately decided on giving the skipper his 10th season.

Related Content: D-backs Owner Reportedly Expresses Disappointment With 2025 Season

Monday afternoon, Diamondbacks owner and managing general partner Ken Kendrick spoke to Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo Show, giving his reasoning for why Lovullo was retained.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Ken Kendrick Explains Keeping Torey Lovullo

Kendrick was straightforward in his explanation.

"When we look to Torey and his role in this season, we can't not evaluate all of the various elements that go into him doing his job. I think it's only fair to say we didn't end up with the talent on the field that we hoped to have, and we know why. We just had extraordinary amounts of injuries," he said.

Kendrick referenced the decision to sell off veteran players at the Trade Deadline and leave Lovullo with a young, thin roster.

"The manager's job is to do the best he can with the talent he has... Derrick [Hall], Mike [Hazen] and me decided that we were out of it, and we needed to reduce payroll and give younger players a chance to play.

"To the credit of our manager, he held the team together, and they performed very, very well through the remainder of the season, and we got right to the edge of being in the playoffs," Kendrick said.

A baseball manager's role does not include constructing a roster. Making in-game decisions is part of the job, but cultivating and maintaining relationships within the clubhouse is important, as well.

Kendrick said Lovullo is well-respected by his players — a more weighted evaluation tool than in-game pitching decisions.

"If you look at the body of work of a manager, yeah, there's disappointment, yeah, there are decisions he made that probably he would wish he would have made a different one.

"But overall, he's done an incredible job, and underneath it all, he has great respect among our players, and that's an important element when you look at a leader. If those who he leads respect him, that's a very, very positive sign," Kendrick said.

"The theme of our players is that they really, really want to go play for this guy."

Many fans have expressed displeasure with Lovullo, to say the least. Kendrick is aware of that sentiment, and responded to that messaging.

"I would say they have every right to their opinions, and I'm glad they're passionate and have strong feelings. Certainly, I can be critical of Torey in certain ways, and yet, you always say, when you come to this point, what would be a better situation than the one that we're in?

"We've concluded that Torey deserves one more year... I don't want to beat it to death, but we had six Tommy John surgeries on this team. We had 39 guys pitch for us.

"Torey would be critical of his own performance in certain ways. I would be critical of it, but the balance of the situation says we need to retool and give Torey a chance to perform with a better setting in the next season," Kendrick said.