SAN DIEGO — Arizona Diamondbacks players and coaches looked at the scoreboard from out of town at Petco Park on Sunday and saw their fate: The D-backs will not play postseason baseball for the third straight season after appearing in the 2023 World Series.
The D-backs had to beat the San Diego Padres AND have the Philadelphia Phillies lose to the Tampa Bay Rays on the final day of the regular season.
The Phillies started their game about 40 minutes before the Diamondbacks, as it was moved up to counter the weather. From the first pitch in San Diego, Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead in a 7-3 victory.
The Phillies will travel to Atlanta to open the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, while the Diamondbacks will return home, entering another offseason after narrowly missing the playoffs.
Déjà vu Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks have been alive until the final three days of the regular season for four straight years, sneaking into the playoffs in 2023 and failing via the tiebreaker in 2024, being eliminated in Game 160 in 2025 and suffering the same fate in Game 162 in 2026.
Arizona pushed hard until the end by winning six of its final seven games on Sunday, ending a six-game winning streak with a bullpen loss on Saturday.
Ultimately, the Diamondbacks dug themselves too deep a hole by losing back-to-back home series to the Texas Rangers and Miami Marlins in their last home game, creating a distance between them and the NL Wild Card teams that was always going to be difficult, if not miraculous, to make up for.
The D-backs also had a slim window to control their own destiny if they had won Saturday after the Phillies lost.
The NL Wild Card race has fluctuated over the years.
It took 84 wins to crack the group in 2023, 89 (plus tiebreakers) in 2024 and just 83 last season. This year, 89 wins was still the minimum in NL – the D-backs would actually win the AL Central or AL West.
What’s next for Diamondbacks Torey Lovullo?
Without the playoffs for the third consecutive season, the club has major questions to answer regarding both its leadership and its squad.
First and foremost, what will happen with longtime manager Torey Lovullo, whose contract is expiring?
D-backs President and CEO Derrick Hall said Bickley and Marotta of Arizona Sports Thursday might have been Lovullo’s best season considering the adversity Arizona faced and how competitive the team was until the very end.
The D-backs have six winning seasons in the decade Lovullo has been at the helm, but just two playoff berths.
- How much of this season’s shortcomings fall on Lovullo compared to a front office that has put together an imperfect roster?
- How much of a change in direction would be change for change’s sake, or a feeling that there simply needs to be a new voice after 10 seasons?
- Would Lovullo want to return if he is not offered a multi-year contract?
- Is the Lovullo decision linked for Ketel Marte?
The D-backs listened to trade offers for Marte last offseason, but they held on to their three-time All-Star.
Since then, Marte has been granted a no-trade clause with 10-5 rights and left the team hanging for a significant portion of the season for the fourth straight year, third without clearance. His absence at Fenway Park was a distraction, and the team lost its next two games in uncompetitive fashion. Arizona’s leverage to potentially advance is gone, so what’s the path forward between the franchise and one of the most accomplished players in its history?
There will also likely be a lockout once the collective bargaining agreement expires in December, which will shape the entire offseason and potentially the number of games played next season.
The D-backs still have a lease extension to agree to in order to continue renovation plans at Chase Field.
There are plenty of things to focus on without a playoff run to draw attention to.
How was the Diamondbacks squad formed?
The 2026 Diamondbacks never found enough consistency at the plate despite standout seasons from Gabriel Moreno and newcomer Nolan Arenado. Marte, Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo each took a step back from their 2025 production, which was difficult to overcome for a lineup lacking reliable power – even if Perdomo was a base machine in September. The offense entered Sunday 10th in MLB in scoring, although much of the heavy lifting had been done in its latest push toward the postseason.
Eduardo Rodriguez was a revelation in the third year of his contract with Arizona, but the starting rotation was affected by substandard seasons from Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, as well as injuries. Ace Corbin Burnes fell short of his All-Star break goal to return from Tommy John surgery, as he made only three starts this season and was unavailable for a critical game Saturday.
What’s unfortunate about this team missing the playoffs is that Arizona has a playoff-caliber bullpen. Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia were terrific young pitchers in the back of the bullpen, and Justin Martinez has been electric since returning from Tommy John surgery in August. These three will be an unpleasant core for the bullpen moving forward.
A left-handed power bat – ideally a first baseman – and pitching depth seem to be the obvious needs for this team entering the offseason. Pitchers Michael Soroka, Zac Gallen, Kevin Ginkel and Jonathan Loaisiga are among the notable free agents.
Gn sports
