The Diamondbacks will be playing meaningful baseball during the last series of the season. At the beginning of the season, it seemed a foregone conclusion. At the trade deadline, it seemed impossible.
Both prove you can’t predict baseball.
The odds are stacked against them. At the time of writing, they sit two games behind the Mets and effectively two games behind the Reds with three games to play. But there’s still a chance that this won’t be the final series preview I write this year.
At this juncture, I find myself more introspective than excited. More what has been and what will be, rather than what is. This team started off with such high expectations. They were going to contend for the division and waltz their way to at least some form of playoff spot. That hardly happened, with the pitching staff, both starters and relievers, dissolving like rice paper under warm running water. The famously never injured Corbin Burnes underwent Tommy John surgery in June. A. J. Puk only played in eight games. Justin Martinez played a whopping five after April 30th. SHELBY MILLER of all people will finish with the most saves on the team, and he a) was traded at the deadline and b) also needed TJS for good measure! Hazen responded with the logical choice and traded everything that wasn’t nailed down, excluding Gallen.
And then what happened? Well, Mike Hazen sold off half the team, then called an all-team meeting. Basically, he told all of them that this was their audition and their chance to prove they belong on the 2026 roster. Carroll took his slower start and turned it into the first 30 hr, 30 sb season in Diamondbacks history. Zac Gallen pitched like someone who might decline a Qualifying Offer after all. Geraldo Perdomo is going to get top three MVP votes. Seventeen different pitchers answered the bullpen phone and collected a save. They’ve gone 29-19, one of the best records during that time.
That of course leads to the futile thinking of what could have been. Burnes doesn’t get injured, maybe he starts in the third game of the Dodgers series instead of Crismitt. Have to imagine that would have been a significant improvement. They have the second most blown saves in MLB. Have to imagine that number (and therefore wins) would be better with Puk and/or Martinez. That way lies madness, though.
Instead, what could be going forward? If this season proved anything, it’s that the Diamondbacks are, at their core, a very good team. There aren’t many teams where you could strip it down to the studs and they play the rest of the season at a high level. Will reinforcements from the IL come in time for next season? Should they go find new reinforcements either through trade or free agency? I really don’t know.
In the end, all we can really do is handle the present. And the present is a team with only a little more than a snowball’s chance in hell. That’s about all the chance they’ve had for two months, though, and it’s worked out okay. Not to mention, they’re facing a Padres team that has more to gain from resting their starters than beating the Diamondbacks. What happens? Well, we probably know the answer, but just on the off chance we’re wrong, let’s find out… Go Dbacks!
Game 1 — 9/26, 6:40 PM — Zac Gallen vs. Yu Darvish
Game 2 — 9/27, 5:10 PM — Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Michael King
Game 3 — 9/28, 12:10 PM — Brandon Pfaadt vs. TBD
