• Slug: Sports-Arizona Diamondbacks Reflection, 800 words.
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By Sean Brennan
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – A day after they were eliminated from the postseason, the mood in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ clubhouse mirrored the vacant Chase Field seats above.

Aside from designated hitter Joc Pederson quietly clearing out his stall, the clubhouse was empty with only the palpable sense of frustration and disappointment hanging in the air.

The empty feeling was both warranted and predictable given how things ended.

On Aug. 25, Arizona sat in the National League’s top wild card spot, seven games clear of the fourth-place New York Mets and were given a 96.8% chance to reach the playoffs by FanGraphs. Even as recently as 11 days ago, the Diamondbacks possessed the second wild card spot with an 82.7% shot to make the big dance.

So much for percentages.

When the playoff field took its final form late Monday, Arizona was on the outside looking in after dropping five of its final seven games. The final slide started when the Diamondbacks blew an 8-0 lead in Milwaukee, which is where the team expected to be Tuesday for an NL wild card playoff game.

“We should be in Milwaukee, and we’re not,” said general manager Mike Hazen. “We play this game to play in the playoffs. … And the investments that were made in this ball club, (manager Torey Lovullo) and I share similar sentiments on this, is that we should have made the playoffs, and we didn’t. It’s pretty disappointing.”

The Diamondbacks have now failed to punch their ticket to the postseason in consecutive seasons since they last did it in 2001, when they won the World Series, and 2002. But what makes this year’s outcome an even tougher of a pill to swallow is that it was completely self-inflicted.

It’s easy to nitpick moments that, if avoided, could have provided Arizona the additional victory it needed to extend its campaign. Giving up a game-tying home run to Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy with two outs in the ninth inning of an eventual 5-4 loss on July 8 is a strong example. And the best, and most painful, is probably the collapse 11 days ago when they were walked off by the Brewers.

There’s also much blame to go around, so much so that managing general partner Ken Kendrick even took responsibility for the team signing starter Jordan Montgomery to a one-year, $25-million deal this past offseason with a player option in 2025. Montgomery pitched to a 6.40 ERA in 21 starts and was moved to the bullpen late in the year.

“Let me say it the best way I can say it,” Kendrick told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM during the Burns & Gambo radio show Monday. “If anyone wants to blame anyone for Jordan Montgomery being a Diamondback, you’re talking to the guy who should be blamed, because I brought it to their attention. I pushed for it. They agreed to it.”

But along with the bad came several positive moments over the 162-game season. Walk off home runs. Miracle comebacks. And while it may not matter in the big picture, the Diamondbacks ultimately finished 89-73, five games better than their win total of 2023 when they snuck into the playoffs and reached the World Series.

“There’s obviously a couple of games you can go back to,” Pederson said. “But I mean, there’s 162 of them, we lost 70 or whatever. … Individually, as a team, we all could have done better. And like I said, we won 89 games, and that usually is enough to get you at least in the wild card. But not this year.”

The biggest positive is certainly that come spring training, much of the Diamondbacks’ young core will be back. Outfielder and 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll, outfielder Jake McCarthy, ace Zac Gallen and third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who just capped off a 30-home run, 101-RBI season, are among those who will don the Sedona Red and Teal again next season.

However, that’s not to say Hazen and company don’t have their work cut out for them in the offseason.

One player who is eligible for free agency and figures to be targeted by other teams is first baseman Christian Walker.

Since signing with the Diamondbacks in 2017, when he mostly played in Triple A, Walker has become a cornerstone for the club on both sides of the ball. Fresh off a career-best 103-RBI campaign, he finished with 26 home runs and drove in 84 runs in 130 games in 2024. His glove was also on full display, as his 13 outs above average ranked second in Major League Baseball among first basemen.

Although teams will likely be lining up and ready to offer him the hefty payday his numbers justify, Walker isn’t ruling out a return to the desert.

“There’s a lot of unknowns here, a lot of uncertainties,” Walker said on Monday. “There’s a good chance I land here, but (there are) some unknowns.”

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