Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo says he does not agree with the practice of intentionally hitting players in the game of baseball.
During the seventh inning of Monday’s game between the Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona pitcher Braden Shipley hit Josh Harrison with a pitch and almost hit the next batter, rookie Austin Meadows. In the bottom of the inning, Pittsburgh’s Joe Musgrove hit Chris Owings with a pitch. In the ninth inning, Diamondbacks reliever Brad Boxberger plunked Sean Rodriguez.
Following the game, Musgrove seemed to indicate his beaning of Owings was intentional. On Tuesday, Lovullo reiterated that he does not believe in retaliation by hitting opposing players and said he instructed players during spring training not to take matters into their own hands.
#Dbacks mgr Torey Lovullo says that he told his pitchers during Spring Training not to take matters into their own hands when it comes to hitting opponents on purpose.
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) June 12, 2018
Lovullo also said he did not believe what Boxberger did late in the game was intentional.
#Dbacks mgr Torey Lovullo says he is confident that Brad Boxberger did not hit Sean Rodriguez intentionally in the 9th inning yesterday.
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) June 12, 2018
Baseball has many unwritten rules. One of them is pitchers defending teammates who they feel were intentionally thrown at (just ask this guy). Lovullo played in the majors for eight seasons so it’s a concept he is quite familiar with. However, it’s apparent it is not a mentality he is carrying over into his new role as manager.
