Diamondbacks approaching fork in road for postseason hopes, status in Valley

Reinforcements are coming. Help is on its way. The Arizona Diamondbacks have 40 games remaining to secure a playoff berth and atone for their long, slow dance with mediocrity.

This is a critical fork in the road for our baseball franchise. Here’s why:

A portion of their fan base has grown cynical. A portion has grown tired of the manager. A portion isn’t showing up to Chase Field unless the opponent gets their juices flowing. And these days, when things go bad for the Diamondbacks, the level of negative energy in the Valley seems to crescendo, dwarfing the good vibes, reaching decibel levels that the victories never seem to capture.

This is not a new phenomenon in the Valley.

For the better part of three decades, the Arizona Cardinals have elicited the same reaction. When they lose games in embarrassing fashion, they become a civic piñata, the subject of primal scream therapy around Valley watercoolers. Postgame shows turn into chaos when they open the phone lines. When the Cardinals let us down, everyone has strong opinions.

That’s because our professional football team has a long history of embarrassment, often tormenting its fan base. It’s a terrible thing when an NFL team is the scourge of a sports town, and we carry numerous battle scars from the letdowns of yesteryear. As a result, a bad loss can draw upon a deep well of failure and repressed anger.

There was a glorious respite from 2008-2016, when the Cardinals went to the Super Bowl with Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald; built a championship roster fueled by the swagger of Bruce Arians; and cultivated a thick homefield advantage at State Farm Stadium.

But now that the team has fallen once again, that anger has resurfaced. Which is why Carson Beck is suddenly driving interest. If he turns out to be a franchise quarterback, the 2026 season is already a smashing success, no matter how many games the team loses. He represents a better, brighter future. And that’s why fans were so bitterly disappointed when he was scratched from Thursday’s preseason game in Las Vegas.

The Diamondbacks have entered this realm. They galvanized the state with their magical World Series run in 2023. But the next two seasons ended horribly, featuring teams that collapsed down the stretch. In 2024, they were eliminated the Monday after their regular season concluded. In 2025, they were eliminated in Game No. 160. You don’t get any closer than that, and both times, the Diamondbacks had destiny in their hands and fumbled badly.

That’s why the mood around the Diamondbacks often grows dark, a team that has shown great resilience in the face of adversity. A team whose 64-58 record would be leading two of the three divisions in the American League. Because there’s compound interest to be paid for our pain and suffering over the past three seasons. And few things are more powerful than compound interest.

For proof, compare the joy you felt for a team that went 4-3 against the Padres and the Dodgers in the previous week to the blood-boiling frustration you felt on Wednesday, when the Diamondbacks amassed 11 hits and 10 walks and still lost to the lowly Rockies. Or that Saturday game against the Dodgers when they squandered back-to-back triples in the ninth inning, when the Valley was about to erupt in massive celebration.

As a sports town, we have suffered too much. We have been teased too often. We have been underserved by our major professional franchises, left to stew over a slew of one-hit wonders and an NHL team that left town.

That’s why the Diamondbacks need to make playoffs in 2026. Or our condition is only going to get worse.

Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7. 

Related

Ketel Marte enters new beginning after getting booed at Chase FieldKetel Marte is ruining his Diamondbacks legacy, and there’s no end in sightWill Ketel Marte torpedo D-backs’ season, Torey Lovullo’s job?Adam Silver has an NBA owner problemCardinals may be beginning to shift perception around themLarry Fitzgerald’s Hall of Fame induction was the perfect final chapter