Torey Lovullo Had Blunt Statement on D-backs Poor Bullpen Performance

The Arizona Diamondbacks' glaring pitching weakness was on full display during their blowout loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day.

After starter Zac Gallen was bit for a four-run inning, the D-backs still had a chance to come back, staring at a 4-2 deficit — until right-hander Taylor Clarke was blown up for four more runs, and comeback hopes were effectively snuffed out.

Manager Torey Lovullo addressed the state of Arizona's bullpen in his appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo Show.

"You can't give up four runs when you're coming out of the bullpen," Lovullo said. "We put the ball on the plate, we paid for it. We just didn't execute."

Diamondbacks' bullpen struggles vs Dodgers

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson (81) during spring training workouts on Feb. 10, 2026, at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lovullo did offer praise to some of the positive performances. Juan Morillo allowed just one inherited run to score after entering with two on and no out. Ryan Thompson threw a scoreless inning. Andrew Hoffmann went 1.2 with no runs allowed.

"There were some good moments," Lovullo said. "I thought Morillo came in, did a really nice job. He walked off the mound and we were still within striking distance. Thompson did a really nice job with the three-batter mix that he had. Hoffmann did a really nice job to finish the game."

The issue, of course, was Clarke's four runs in just 0.1 innings.

"We've got to be better there by landing pitches," Lovullo said. "Taylor Clarke has had a lot of success against some of the hitters that he faced yesterday. He just couldn't get it done."

The question, going forward, will be how Arizona's bullpen roles will shake out — particularly in the ninth inning. All signs point to returning veteran Paul Sewald taking that job, but Lovullo has not committed to that explicitly.

"I've still got to learn the guys," he said. "I still want to get a feel for how they function as a unit, as an eight-man unit. Paul [Sewald], no mystery, didn't pitch yesterday... so he's probably going to be a positive-role guy."

"Positive-role" is how Lovullo describes back-end leverage arms. The manager cited Jonathan Loáisiga and Kevin Ginkel as other positive-role relievers.

"You can almost figure by how I'm using guys as to what type of role they're going to fill," Lovullo said. "Ryan Thompson will be a little bit of a swing person, so will Taylor Clarke. For the most part, I like our bullpen. There's a lot of power coming out of it. Yesterday, we had that power. We just didn't execute."