The season is winding down with a tight wildcard race at hand, where the Arizona Diamondbacks stand in the postseason picture is consequential. As the last couple weeks have shown, the postseason picture, and where teams rank remains close, with room for the Snakes to move or lose positioning in the National League wildcard race only getting tighter. Whether the Diamondbacks secure a solid postseason birth or end up on the outside looking in depends heavily on winning these last few series to beat out the NL wildcard competition.
Where The Diamondbacks Stand In The Postseason Picture
Can The Diamondbacks Maintain This New Found Momentum?
As September has shown, the Snakes have struggled to maintain the consistency in play that had them surge in July and August, which showed the league how dominant a force they could still be. Since those early-month struggles and wild inconstancies reared their ugly head, the D-Backs have begun to return to form, with little room to stumble. Securing where the Arizona Diamondbacks stand in the postseason picture is crucial yet achievable.
Signs Of Life Showing
A struggling pitching staff is showing signs of life. Eduardo Rodriguez turned in a quality start, helping get a needed win in an otherwise painful series with the Colorado Rockies. Brandon Pfaadt‘s impressive 12 strikeouts over seven innings while holding the Milwaukee Brewers to two hits caused the collective confidence in his abilities come the postseason. For those who thought the Brewers’ struggles in the first game of the series had something to do with their raucous clinch celebration with a legend, Zac Gallen was able to help secure a second win in the series, albeit with a somewhat rough 5th inning. After stuttering for the first two games in Colorado, the bats have reignited to keep the Dbacks’ offense one of the most potent in the league, and the recent activation of outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. from the injured list looks to only sharpen the sticks further.
Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homer as the @Dbacks remain in the second Wild Card spot. pic.twitter.com/HdGS4o0Pv1
— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2024
Starting Strong In The Final Stretch
First and foremost, the Diamondbacks need to show these next couple of games are more than just that. How? Taking the series against the Brewers is a start. The wins are needed, but getting them against a potential postseason opponent that nearly swept the Snakes a week ago is icing on the cake and making it a clean sweep could add a cherry and get the DBacks closer to moving up in the postseason picture. If this series is going to pay off, right-hander Merrill Kelly needs to replicate the work he put in during his last start and rely on the Diamondbacks explosive-offensive-potential to come through for the series win. Breaking out the brooms could prove lofty. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery would need to step up in a big way, and it’s yet clear he will.
Don’t Let Up
When it comes to the second-to-last series of the season, the San Francisco Giants may not be standing in the postseason picture, but that makes them dangerous. With eight games left and sitting ten games out from a wildcard spot, the Giants have little left to do but hurt a division rival’s postseason aspirations, and that needs to be shut down, hard. What do the Diamondbacks need to do? Sweep the Giants and move on to the series that means the most.
Finishing Strong
The final series of the season is against the Padres, which likely makes this series a preview of the NL Wildcard round. With that in mind, this series is crucial if the Diamondbacks want to taste success in the postseason. With the recent improvements and expected-to-sustain offensive output, the key here is to make sure the bullpen doesn’t cost them the game, as they have struggled to keep late runs down recently but have shown potential too. The gem of the D-Backs bullpen continues to be left-hander A.J. Puk, who, in 15 1/3 innings of work, has allowed only 4 hits, accumulated 28 strikeouts, posted a 0.00 ERA, and has a WHIP of 0.63. If Puk can keep up the magic, the rest of the bullpen could follow and shut down the latter half of these games. This could create a massive psychological edge for the Snakes.
A Little Help Can Go A Long Way
Psychological warfare is nice. Pushing a shift in the playoff picture is just different. This scenario is not the likeliest, but it’s a sweet carrot to dangle in a dramatic postseason picture. If the Chicago White Sox can put one of the worst seasons in MLB history aside for a couple of games, then there’s a chance. Likely? Maybe not, but teams least expected to win can do the most damage. Next, suppose the Los Angeles Dodgers and newly immortalized star player Shohei Ohtani can keep their end-of-season performance going and pull off a sweep. In that case, the pressure intensifies beyond belief for the Padres in Phoenix. Throw in the New York Mets surviving their series against the Philadelphia Phillies while putting Atlanta’s postseason dreams to sleep, and the final week of September begins to feel a lot like October.
Taking Care Of Business
If the Diamondbacks want to repeat their spectacular postseason run last year, they need to end this roller coaster of a season on top of their game. How do they do that? Show the league they deserve to take October by storm by dominating the end of this month. With so many threads still at play, this race for standing in the postseason picture has all eyeballs on who can pull off what when it matters most. This is what baseball is all about, and the Diamondbacks might just show the world what it means to be great and take the postseason by storm.
Main Photo Credits: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
