A momentum building series win over the Chicago Cubs where there was drama in all 3 games, the Diamondbacks would look to carry that momentum into their 4 game series against the struggling San Francisco Giants. The good news going into this series is the Dbacks have had the Giants number in 2026, winning 8 of the 9 games they have played, but the Giants lineup of MLB the show randomly generated names would be doing their best to play spoiler to the Dbacks and attempt to deny them from gaining any
ground on the Padres or Phillies in the NL Wild Card race.
Three’s (Mid) Company
The Diamondbacks starting rotation depth has been tested multiple times throughout 2026 but more so the last month plus as the Snakes have had to rely heavily on arms like Mitch Bratt, Kohl Drake and Jose Cabrera to fill in those gaps. While the expectations were on the low end for the young arms, outside of Bratt’s 7 shutout innings against San Diego earlier this month, the results have been less than ideal as they have only gone 6 innings or longer in 2 of the 20 combined starts, both of which were by Mitch Bratt.
The fellas and I agreed that these short outings from the young arms are leading to the bullpen being used more often than most would like, which could be a recipe for disaster with only a month left to go. If this team is to complete their playoff push and sneak into October, they are going to need their starting pitching to carry the load a bit more and try to keep the big bullpen arms from being overused.
Noot Scootin’ Boogie
The lone acquisition for the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline was off to a rough start at the dish, as the three of us and many other D’Backs fans and writers were starting to get worried that Lars Nootbar would be another black hole in a lineup that at times already has too many spots, but the last 10 games from Noot Noot (.310/.355/.724 for a 1.079 OPS) has the three of us hoping that Lars has adjusted to his new team and found his footing at just the right time. Gabe, Brandon and I were all on the same page in saying that if Nootbar can at least be a .750-.780 OPS hitter the rest of the way, then that could be a big boost for this offense and provide a bit more length in the lineup.
Letting Opportunities “Split” Away
Going into the series the Diamondbacks were a full game behind the San Diego Padres for the 3rd Wild Card spot in the NL, but thanks to a lot of help from the D’Backs expansion brothers in the Tampa Bay Rays they were able to leave San Fran a half game ahead of the Pads. Normally that would have us absolutely amped up that we were able to leap frog the Padres and get back into a WIld Card spot, but the fellas and I all felt the same in saying that it felt like the Diamondbacks left a prime opportunity to leave with an even bigger lead on the table as even just 1 more win in this series would have given the Snakes a 1.5 game lead, with a sweep giving them a 2.5 game lead.
Gabe mentioned that a 2.5 game lead wouldn’t be a big enough gap to fully secure any kind of playoff spot, it would have put a lot of pressure on the Padres to make up as much ground as they could before the final series of the year when the Snakes and Padres meetup in San Diego. Brandon also pointed out that a sweep of the Giants would have kept Arizona just 3 games back of the Phillies and Cubs for that first Wild Card spot and the chance to even host a Wild Card series. A series split doesn’t technically have a winner or loser, but with the missed opportunities for the D’Backs to gane even more ground in their playoff push had us all feeling like they really came away from this 4 gamer as losers.
The Phightin Phils
The three of us turned our attention to the next series ahead of the Diamondbacks as the red hot Phillies, winners of 8 of their last 10, would be coming to Chase Field for a big 3 game set starting on Monday night. The big talking point heading into this Phillies series is the potential return of Diamondbacks 2nd Baseman Ketel Marte after the wild drama filled last few weeks became the talk of the baseball world. We all acknowledged that there will most certainly be a mixed reaction from the Snakes fans in attendance, but the hope is that the clubhouse will be ready to welcome Ketel back with open arms and be ready to focus on winning ballgames, as Ketel is a critical bat to have for this final month.
While the focus has mostly been on the Padres and the 3rd and final Wild Card spot, the D’Backs are still within striking distance of both the Phillies and the Cubs for the 1st or 2nd spot, so a series win or even a series sweep of the Phils could be the kind of juice the Snakes need to get them fired up and ready to hopefully play their best ball and finish out the regular season on a high note and with as much momentum heading into October.
