Diamondbacks miss the postseason for 3rd straight year

SAN DIEGO – It came down to game 162 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Diego. All the snakes needed was a win and a loss by the scuffling Philadelphia Phillies.

By the time the game was 4-4 in the seventh inning, the season was over. The Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 to punch a ticket to the postseason with the final NL Wild Card spot. 

Justin Martinez then gave up his first three runs of the season and Arizona fell 8-4, finishing 86-76.

There are many “what ifs” around this season. Just like there have been in each of the past three, narrowly missing the playoffs.

What if the Diamondbacks swept the Padres this weekend? What if they didn’t go 4-6 on the final home stand, with series losses to the Marlins and Rangers? What if they didn’t blow two straight leads to the Dodgers in games two and three back in March? What if Corbin Burnes actually came back healthy? What if A.J. Puk actually ended up returning?

The list of what ifs can go on for pages. But make no mistake, there is no excuse for missing the postseason ecah of the last three seasons with the type of top end talent on this roster.

So, if I were to make a “blame pie” I would split it up this way: Mike Hazen 50%, Torey Lovullo 20%, injuries 15%, top guys (Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Corbin Carroll) regressing 15%.

Hazen gets the bulk of the blame in my book for a few reasons. He didn’t properly address the lack of power in the lineup, especially at first base and DH, to open the season. While the late run in 2025 was thrilling, it showed that was a major hole that needed to be filled. He also, admittedly, failed at the trade deadline by not adding more outside of Lars Nootbaar. When you tell your players to force him to buy and they follow that up with their best two week stretch of the year, you have to hold up your end of the bargain…

Doubling down on that, relying on seriously injured players to return as major pieces is a flawed philosphy. Take a look at San Diego. They were out of it in July, knew some pitchers “may” come back, and still decided to buy aggressively at the deadline. While Casey Mize was mostly bad for them, trades like that send the right message, and don’t force injured players to rush back and produce at high levels.

This is personal opinion here: the organizational philosphy of holding on to struggling veterans for too long has to change. Too many guys who have proven to not be everyday players were given long leashes that shouldn’t have existed. Especially with loads of young talent that would develop by having the chance to “struggle” in their places.

I do give him credit for building an elite bullpen by making the right fringe moves the last two years. And trading for Nolan Arenado and only paying him $5 million was a fantastis deal. The third baseman led the team in home runs (30) and RBI (86). Michael Soroka was also a hidden gem that helped solidfy the rotation for much of the year.

So with all the “bad,” there is still some good.

It’s hard to tell what owner Ken Kendrick is thinking right now. The “easy” decision is to bring back both Lovullo and Hazen, especially with an impending 2027 MLB lockout. The hard decision is to fire one and not the other. The most logical may be to clean house, get new voices to lead the organizational philosophy in a new direction.

In 10 years, there have been two playoff appearances. That doesn’t fly anywhere else. 

Despite that, I still tend to believe that a one year extension is in the works, due to the impending lockout and an organizational belief that injuries deserved the majority of the blame for 2026.

I like Torey Lovullo and do believe he can lead a team to the promise land. I also understand that a new voice could work great for this group. 

Lovullo said postgame that he wants to come back, but that he wants to feel wanted. It was after a question about whether or not he would accept a short term deal.

“I don’t know where it’s at. I have some decisions to make, I have some things to think about, as do the D-backs and where it goes from here I don’t know.”

Here is some of what Torey Lovullo had to say about his contract situation and future with the team. pic.twitter.com/iHB07Dm5is

— Jordan Spurgeon (@spurge_) September 27, 2026

 

The next few days will be interesting…