The Arizona Diamondbacks have a 1% chance of making the playoffs
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Data: CBS Sports; Table: Axios Visuals
The MLB All-Star Break is over. And now the race toward October begins. But maybe not for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have just a 1% chance of making the playoffs. (So you're telling us there's a chance!)
- The team has appeared in the postseason just once in the past 10 years — in 2017.
By the numbers: The D-backs are 40-52 and in last place in their division.
- They are 21 games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Arizona has won just three of its last 10 games.
- They have a losing record both at home and on the road.
As a lifelong Arizonan, I've become resigned to the idea that the Diamondbacks will just always be bad.
- As Arizona Sports' Dan Bickley put it, "They have been spectacularly uncompetitive slash uninteresting."
Team management has reluctantly agreed to an extensive rebuild, "attempting to create the kind of farm system necessary for long-term sustainability in the National League West," Bickley wrote.
Yes, but: Even hometown hero Luis Gonzalez — the star of the Diamondbacks' 2001 World Series team — isn't sold.
- On a recent television broadcast, he said players seem a little too comfortable with their place on the team and lack the "sense of urgency" to improve, The Arizona Republic reported.
What he's saying: "I just think tough love sometimes — some of these guys need a little tough love," Gonzalez said.
Some hope?: The Diamondbacks got high praise for their picks in the MLB draft earlier this week.
- Notably, the team picked up high school outfielder Druw Jones, son Andruw Jones, a former 10-time Gold Glove centerfielder for the Atlanta Braves.
- Prospect Leandro Cedeno is making waves after hitting a 527-foot home run for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles last weekend.
My two cents: Three years ago, no one thought the Phoenix Suns would ever be good again, either. Look at them now (well, maybe don't look at their last playoff game).
- But they also sped up their rebuild, trading for a future Hall of Famer in Chris Paul and adding talent around him. The Diamondbacks don't seem interested in taking that route.
What's next: The Diamondbacks second half of the season starts Friday night with a home series against the Washington Nationals (who, at 31-63, are somehow worse than Arizona).