PHILADELPHIA – Having just experienced his first rough start in a major league game, Diamondbacks right-hander Jon Duplantier was stewing in the visitors’ dugout at Citizens Bank Park. He had thrown too many pitches. He had lasted just three innings. He was, in his words, dejected and hot.
But Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo saw in the moment an opportunity to teach, and during the bottom of the fourth inning of a game the Philadelphia Phillies would win 7-4, Lovullo delivered a message to his rookie pitcher on Tuesday night.
“He just wanted me to come up with something positive, turn the leaf over and kind of just wanted to light a little fire under me,” Duplantier said.