Diamondbacks players grip with trilogy of falling short since 2023 World Series: ‘It sucks’

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks just missed the postseason for a long list of reasons, but relief pitcher Justin Martinez captured the general feeling in the Chase Field clubhouse on Monday with two words:

“It sucks.”

The aftermath of this season’s postseason near-miss began on a rainy Monday for the players, as they returned to a hushed Chase Field to clean out their lockers and say goodbyes.

Upstairs, the urgency was different. General manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo have not held their annual season’s-end press conference yet, which is expected to happen later this week. Lovullo’s contract is up, and both parties have decisions to make about the future.

The Diamondbacks and their fans have endured a trilogy of heartbreaking finishes since the 2023 World Series, as 89, 80 and 86 wins were not enough to return to October.

Lovullo pointed to offensive inconsistency as one of the main reasons why this season ended earlier than he wanted. Third baseman Nolan Arenado specified that execution with runners in scoring position held the team back.

Multiple players suggested that it would be cherry picking to single out a game or series, but there were several who pointed to Arizona’s losses to the Texas Rangers and Miami Marlins in its final homestand as what spelled their doom.

The D-backs started that homestand 2-5 before winning the final two games against the New York Yankees to kick start a potential season-saving six-game winning streak. Martinez called it their playoff week.

The Diamondbacks overall had their best September record (13-10) since 2019, but they dug too deep of a hole. The bullpen game disaster on Saturday was the final straw.

“I mean, I thought we played pretty well in September this year,” outfielder Corbin Carroll said. “I think just over the course of 162, it’s hard to pin in on a game, a week. It’s just kind of the totality of it, you gotta play better over it.”

“The way they finished and made it interesting was fun to watch and fun to be a part of. It’s something we can all hang our hat on going into next year,” pitcher Corbin Burnes said. “But it’s one of those things, if you play just slightly better in all aspects, you probably pick up four or five more wins.”

Other than July, the Diamondbacks earned a record within three games of .500 in every month this season. They are the lone team with a net-zero in terms of sweeps versus times swept (5-5).

Their run differential was a plus-nine, and their six-game win streak at the end of the campaign was a season high.

The Diamondbacks battled to secure a league-best 47 comeback victories, including some dazzling late-game moments from Ryan Waldschmidt’s walk-off home runs, Ketel Marte walking off the Dodgers and the Pavin Smith game-winner on 2001 anniversary night against the Yankees. Arizona finished 28-21 in one-run ballgames.

The D-backs, however, were closer to a decent team than a great one for most of the season, and a heroic late push came up just short in a stacked National League — Arizona finished with a better record than two American League division winners (Cleveland and Houston).

“I was proud of how we battled to the last day and put ourselves in a position to have a chance there. It sucks. We obviously want to do more and have higher aspirations,” utility player Tim Tawa said.

“I think we did a really good job to finish strong,” catcher Gabriel Moreno said. “Not how we wanted, but being .over 500 makes everyone feel good, but it’s not enough. You have to make it to the playoffs.”

“We just need to be better next year,” Martinez said.

These are the reasons that stand out among the many for why another almost occurred. We will dig into these more in the coming days:

Why the Diamondbacks missed the playoffs

Diamondbacks’ stars regressed, lineup not good enough to catch up

In 2025, Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo put up these numbers:

• Corbin Carroll: .259 average, .883 OPS, 31 home runs, 32 steals
• Ketel Marte: .283 average, .893 OPS, 28 home runs
• Geraldo Perdomo: .290 average, .851 OPS, 20 home runs, 27 steals

In 2026, the trio put up these numbers:

• Corbin Carroll: .239 average, .795 OPS, 22 home runs, 21 steals
• Ketel Marte: .249 average, .748 OPS, 22 home runs
• Geraldo Perdomo: .262 average, .747 OPS, 9 home runs, 21 steals

They still amassed 12.5 wins above replacement (Baseball Reference), but that is a sizable dip in offensive production from what was a top-tier Big 3 entering the season. They produced 17.3 WAR in 2025.

“I want to keep learning and keep getting better,” Carroll said. “I think I’m not happy with where I’m at as a player, and I think that there’s work to do, and I’m excited to get to it.”

Moreno and Arenado picked up the slack with standout seasons, but the Diamondbacks gave fliers to veterans and cycled in a group of rookies to try and find the right lineups. The D-backs finished bottom three in OPS for first basemen, designated hitters, left fielders and center fielders. They used 142 different lineups, as the offense was not as deep or dynamic as it had been in previous years.

The roster construction put a lot of pressure on Carroll, Marte and Perdomo.

Carroll dealt with multiple injuries and fought through them, explaining his back was the one he felt most impacted him in the second half. He has some adjustments to make to better handle fastballs, as well. Perdomo’s success with runners in scoring position (.186 average) took a shocking dip until the final stretch of the season — although Perdomo was great at the end of the year, getting on base at a .500 clip in the final 12 games.

Marte ran into bad batted ball luck early, became one of the hottest hitters in baseball in May and June but regressed. He did not hit a home run in his last 19 games.

Arizona still finished ninth in MLB runs, but it made up some serious ground at the end of the season. The lineup finished with 59 runs over the last eight games, leaping up from 18th in MLB.

Something the front office will need to address this offseason is Arizona’s struggles hitting right-handed pitching, a hole on the roster exacerbated by struggles from Marte and Carroll against righties.

RISP was a problem

Situational hitting was a huge issue for most of the season.

The D-backs finished the year batting .250 with RISP, which is middle of the pack. Take out a strong April and May, and Arizona’s .233 average ranked 28th.

That second game against Miami, when the D-backs went 1-for-13 with RISP and left 15 runners on, was a standout.

“I think as a group, runners in scoring position, we just didn’t do a good job,” Arenado said. “I know I didn’t the way I would like to. And that hurt.”

There could be several reasons for that, including the roster flaws putting less-capable players in leverage situations and hitters too often jumping out of their approach to try to do too much.

“I don’t know,” Carroll said. “I think that there’s just, in this game, there’s times and stretches where guys are hot, and there’s times where you’re not. I think just maybe a combination of guys getting cold at the wrong time.”

Corbin Burnes and starting rotation injuries

Burnes and the Diamondbacks expected to get the ace back in July, but a teres major strain set him back to September, and the rehab process seemingly tired out his shoulder by the end of the year. Instead of relying on a four-time All-Star to carry the D-backs home on Saturday, Arizona put the struggling Burnes on the injured list, leading to what was a bullpen game.

Burnes gave the D-backs -0.3 WAR despite being touted as essentially a trade deadline acquisition to help at the end of the season.

“I wish I could have played a bigger part,” Burnes said.

Injuries to Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka in the middle of the season put a strain on Arizona’s pitching depth, as the D-backs had to pull from their reserve in Triple-A to mixed results. Soroka came back and gave the D-backs some quality innings at the end of the year, but Nelson did not return until mid-September when he could only pitch out of the bullpen.

Front office’s pitching missteps

Soroka, when healthy, looked like a home run addition, but the decision to bring back Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen did not work out. The duo that effectively anchored the rotation for so long finished with a combined 267.1 innings for an ERA of 5.39. The D-backs did not even trust Gallen to start in Burnes’ absence when the opportunity came up on Saturday. Rookie Jose Cabrera was given more faith from the organization.

Additionally, Hazen fell on the sword for not getting starting pitching help at the trade deadline. The D-backs came close to acquiring multiple starters such as Clay Holmes, but deals fell through. That bullpen game will stick out moving forward as a tangible effect of the disappointing deadline.

Ketel Marte’s no-show

The Diamondbacks wanted badly to move forward from Marte’s no-show in Boston, as the players grew tired of talking about it. Marte returned to the team two weeks later and apologized, as he has done in the past. This is the fourth straight year he left the team hanging.

At the time it happened, the D-backs were one game back of a playoff spot, and the situation was admittedly a distraction during a critical series at Fenway Park. The Diamondbacks looked out of sorts in the first two game before rallying to win the finale.

The clubhouse banded together and played pretty well in the days that followed, but in a season that came down to the final day, any distractions that could have led to losses deserve to be highlighted.

Marte was also not a very impactful player when he came back, hitting for an OPS of .689 with one home run in 23 games after the ordeal.

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