Diamondbacks have seen playoff races like this before: Does that experience help?

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks understand what these games feel like.

For the fourth straight year, the D-backs have entered the final two weeks of the season in a tight race for the postseason, trailing the San Diego Padres by 1.5 games for the final National League Wild Card spot before Sunday’s slate of games.

Here is where they stood entering the final 13 games in each of the previous three seasons:

– In 2023, the Diamondbacks were in a tie for the third Wild Card spot with the Cincinnati Reds at 77-72. They went 7-6 down the stretch to sneak into the playoffs.

– In 2024, the D-backs were in the second Wild Card spot at 83-66, two games ahead of both the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. They went 6-7, missing the postseason via tiebreakers with New York and Atlanta.

– In 2025, the Diamondbacks trailed the Mets by two games for the final spot at 74-75, unexpectedly closing the gap after selling at the trade deadline. They finished 6-7, getting eliminated in Game 160.

That experience is supposed to help.

They’ve partied in the Chase Field pool to wash off the champagne one year and sat in the clubhouse, fully packed, quietly watching the Mets and Braves shake hands on the field the next.

There isn’t a core in the National League (and perhaps all of baseball) that has gone through as many postseason-adjacent regular season games over the past four years as Arizona, who has 10 players from its 2023 World Series team on the active roster (and three more on the injured list).

“I think that familiarity is going to be able to put everybody in the right frame of mind,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I don’t want anybody to have these out-of-body experiences where they do something different. A lot of these guys have experience on the highest level, in the World Series. So knowing that, I feel very comfortable. When I walk in, when I look at the group and how they’re preparing, that makes me feel better knowing they have that experience.”

“Keep fighting, keep fighting, anything is possible,” shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said. “Especially to the end of this race, it’s two more weeks. So a lot of good things can happen. And whatever happens in the end, we’re going to be proud because we’ve been fighting. So that’s the message I have.”

The 2023 Diamondbacks went to the World Series playing with a sense of freedom, a nothing-to-lose mantra from a young core going up against teams that expected to steamroll them. Instead of letting the pressure become overwhelming, the D-backs had a lot of fun shocking the world.

Expectations understandably increased in 2024, and those goals were not met. The 2024 team crumbled late despite having a better record than the year before, followed by a 2025 group that dug too deep of a hole.

This year’s version of the Diamondbacks does not have the most talented roster of the quartet. It rivals the 2025 squad for adversity faced, from injuries to the Ketel Marte news cycle and a disappointing trade deadline.

But the group is battle tested. Through the pitching injuries and dramatic step back offensively, the D-backs have shown grit all season with 43 comeback and 27 one-run victories.

If the D-backs make the playoffs, the bullpen, Eduardo Rodriguez and resilience will be among the main reasons.

Lovullo said his players have done well at not panicking through the lows, that there is a sense of excitement around this time of year.

“I feel like we’ve been fighting and playing playoff games for almost a month now,” pitcher Brandon Pfaadt told Arizona Sports. “It’s easy to look at the social media and all the standings and everything people have to say, which is great. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to show up to the park and do our jobs. … I feel like it’s a little extra at this point of the year, especially with us and the Padres going tooth and nail. I feel like we’re excited for it.”

“I’m just excited,” outfielder Corbin Carroll said. “The team that we have this year, it’s a lot of fun to be a part of. Some of the pitchers that we’ve recently gotten back … this bullpen and the job they do, it’s just a lot of fun to play behind these guys.”

There has to be pressure, certainly for individuals who have come up just short over the past couple years and particularly for Lovullo on the final year of his contract.

The Diamondbacks are going to have to play really well down the stretch to challenge a Padres team that has won six straight games and faces an easy schedule until the two meet at the end of the year. Going 6-7 again won’t be good enough.

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