Lovullo rounds out staff with ex-manager, three internal coaches
PHOENIX -- Ron Gardenhire will be the bench coach for new Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, who also promoted three other coaches in the organization on Thursday.
The 59-year-old Gardenhire managed the Minnesota Twins for 13 seasons and gives Lovullo an extremely experienced right-hand man.
"I was pretty comfortable being retired, but when Torey called ... I was pretty excited," said Gardenhire, who was caught off guard by Lovullo's interest.
Gardenhire five times finished runner-up for AL Manager of Year before he won the award in 2010. He was let go by the Twins after the 2014 season and interviewed for managerial openings with the Nationals and Padres last offseason.
"What I really, really gravitated to was how his teams competed," Lovullo said of Gardenhire, who was 1,608-1,039 with the Twins.
The newcomers to Lovullo's staff are Tony Perezchica as third base coach and a pair of former D-backs players -- Mike Fetters as bullpen coach and Robby Hammock as quality control and catching coach.
"I felt very strongly in my conversations with (player development director) Mike Bell that he had some very good candidates," Lovullo said.
"I looked for coaches who wanted to team ... and prepare players to go out and compete. I'm confident we'll all be able to hit the ground running full speed."
Retained from Chip Hale's staff are hitting coach Dave Magadan, pitching coach Mike Butcher, first base coach Dave McKay and Ariel Prieto as coach/interpreter.
Lovullo said Butcher's ability to teach and the relationships he already built with the team's pitchers outweighed the group's on-field performance last season.
"It takes time for someone to walk into a situation and have success," Lovullo said of Butcher's first year in the organization, when the D-backs finished last in the NL with a 5.09 team ERA. "Last year was not a big deal for me."
Lovullo said he still plans to hire an assistant hitting coach, a position previously held by Mark Grace.
