Torey Lovullo Had Blunt Statement on D-backs' Poor Defense vs Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks played a mistake-filled game on Wednesday at Salt River Fields, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 10-7.

The final score is certainly not an accurate marker of everything a major league club is doing, but the D-backs' performance was certainly poor, both on the defensive end and on the mound.

They committed three errors, and an errant throw went down as a base hit rather than a fourth error. Arizona surrendered five unearned runs out of Los Angeles' 10 total.

Defense is something manager Torey Lovullo tends to emphasize. He gave an honest assessment of Arizona's lackluster effort to reporters postgame.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo on Poor Defense, Pitching

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo walks the dugout during a spring training game in Surprise on Feb. 24, 2026. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"A couple of our pillars, things such as filling up the strike zone, picking up the baseball and defense didn't show up today. So we've got to coach it. We've got to continue going out there and helping these players understand how important it is," Lovullo said.

"You can see how fast things get away from you when plays aren't made. For whatever reason, I'm not going to point fingers, we've got to be better there."

Arizona's pitching, as a whole, did not do the defense any favors. D-backs hurlers gave up nine walks to go along with seven hits.

"It coincides with the pitching, when you're filling up the zone, players are engaged," Lovullo said. "So you guys have heard me say it before, and I will continue to pound away at it. But we've got to take care of the basic things that can get away from us like that.

"We'll stress the importance of it through the meetings tonight, tomorrow, and then go out and coach it up. But it was a tough couple of innings there, and I didn't like the feeling that I was getting. We got to start to get that figured out."

Tuning up these areas is what spring training is for. But Lovullo came into this camp with a desire to ramp up the intensity in Arizona's defensive work. Multiple times prior to full-squad workouts did the manager state an intent to make adjustment to the D-backs' defensive regimen.

It also underscores the value of additions like third baseman Nolan Arenado and first baseman Carlos Santana — neither of whom were involved in any of Arizona's defensive lapses Wednesday. The likelihood of defensive issues persisting into the regular season with two of the best defenders at their respective positions is low, but the D-backs have work still to do this spring.