2 hours ago - Sports

D-Backs eliminated from playoff contention on season's final day

Jeremy Duda

A man in sunglasses, gray pants and a black t-shirt and hat, both with a red "A" on the front, stands in a baseball dugout looking out; cubbyholes filled with various sporting equipment and water bottles are behind him. — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo watches from the dugout during the seventh inning of Arizona's season-ending loss to the Padres in San Diego's Petco Park on Sunday. Photo: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images

The Diamondbacks got tantalizingly close to the playoffs — but it wasn't quite enough.

State of play: The D-Backs narrowly missed out on the National League's final wild-card spot, keeping them out of the postseason for the third consecutive year.

The latest: It wasn't enough for the D-Backs to win — they needed the Philadelphia Phillies to lose, and for a moment it looked like the near-impossible could happen.

The snakes won six consecutive games while the Phillies went into a tailspin, losing four in a row.
After falling to the San Diego Padres on Saturday, the D-Backs needed an Arizona win and a Philadelphia loss on Sunday to get to the playoffs.

But San Diego beat the D-Backs while the Phillies broke their losing streak with a season-ending win, finalizing their grip on the last wild-card spot.

Catch up quick: The D-Backs have been competitive all season but were hindered by injuries, a sluggish offense, middling performances by key players and a distraction caused by second baseman Ketel Marte's unauthorized absence from the team.

They were in a strong playoff position as of Sept. 8, but lost six of their next eight games.

Zoom in: D-Backs catcher Gabriel Moreno ended the season as the National League batting champion, with a .311 average.

It was the first batting title in D-Backs franchise history.
Moreno's average was second in the Majors behind American League batting champion Yordan Alvarez.

Flashback: The D-Backs haven't gone to the postseason since their improbable run to the World Series in 2023.

What's next: Team leadership has to decide whether to bring back manager Torey Lovullo, who's at the end of his contract.

Lovullo said earlier this month that he probably needed to make the playoffs for the team to keep him.
Yes, but: team president Derrick Hall praised Lovullo last week, saying he's had six winning seasons in his 10-year tenure with the team, and this is probably the best season — despite taking the team to the World Series in 2023.
Lovullo said after Sunday's loss that he and the team have "some decisions to make" and that he wants to return, "But I want to be wanted."

The bottom line: This is the third-best season of Lovullo's run with the team.

Only in 2017 and 2024 did the team have more wins under his leadership.

Add Axios on Google

D-Backs eliminated from playoff contention on season's final day

More Phoenix stories