D-backs mathematically eliminated, miss playoffs for 2nd straight year
Sep 23, 2019, 10:10 PM | Updated: Sep 24, 2019, 5:45 pm
Manager Torey Lovullo #17 of the Arizona Diamondbacks watches from the dugout during the MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field on June 05, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Dodgers 3-2 in 11 innings. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks were mathematically eliminated from a possible National League Wild Card playoff berth on Monday after a 9-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s the second year in a row the D-backs will miss the playoffs after they appeared in the Wild Card game in 2017 and advanced to the NLDS, eventually falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Arizona, at least, made it interesting this season.
The D-backs won 11 of 12 games from Aug. 26 to Sept. 7. At that point, they were just 1.5 games back in the National League Wild Card race. But a six-game losing streak right after that didn’t do them any favors, and the crowd of other teams in the mix for those playoff spots made a playoff entrance even more unlikely.
The 2019 season without a playoff appearance follows an offseason in which the D-backs traded star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and lost pitcher Patrick Corbin and outfielder A.J. Pollock in free agency. Furthermore, the team traded ace Zack Greinke to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline and acquired Mike Leake to replace him, and also went without pitcher Luke Weaver and outfielder David Peralta for much of the season due to injury.
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Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers had another stellar season and won their 100th game of the season on Sunday. Entering play on Monday, they had the second-best run differential in MLB behind only the Astros, who sat at 95-50.
In good news for the D-backs, very few players are scheduled to become free agents this offseason. Outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Adam Jones along with catcher Alex Avila are on expiring contracts.
As of Monday, it appeared that the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers were most likely to take the two NL Wild Card spots. Elsewhere in the National League, the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals had all clinched playoff spots already.
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