Arizona Diamondbacks Officially Bounced From MLB Playoff Contention

On Sunday, September 23rd, the Arizona Diamondbacks were officially eliminated from postseason contention.

If you’ve followed the Arizona Diamondbacks since the All-Star break, you have to be super disappointed that they’ve been officially eliminated from postseason contention. Yes, we’ve known it’s been heading this way for a few weeks now but it hurts when you realize where they were in August.

Ironically, the official exile from contention wasn’t even in their hands. The St. Louis Cardinals won against San Francisco and the Dodgers beat the Padres, officially knocking them out for good. For the record, though, they were also shut out on Sunday as Colorado completed a three-game sweep.

Back in August, the Arizona Diamondbacks spent all but three days in first place among NL West teams. The starting rotation was pitching well, the bullpen was one of the best around, and they were manufacturing runs all sorts of ways on offense.

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Then September came and it all fell apart.

In 20 games this month, the D-Backs managed to win only five times. Unfortunately, it was a complete team collapse, not just one area that was at fault. Several bullpen arms had their worst month of the season, Clay Buchholz got hurt, and six regular position players hit under .200 for the month.

Arizona Diamondbacks With BA’s Below .200 in September

(min 10 AB; as of 9/22)

• Steven Souza Jr., .070 (3-for-43)
• Jeff Mathis, .143 (4-for-28)
• Christian Walker, .167 (3-for-18)
• Alex Avila, .174 (4-for-23)
• Daniel Descalso, .186 (8-for-43)
• Jon Jay, .196 (9-for-46)

Now, the Arizona Diamondbacks have a 79-77 record with a few games left to play. While it doesn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, two guys — David Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt — can secure batting averages over .300 with solid performances down the stretch.

Right now, Peralta is hitting .297 while Goldie is hitting .294.

Arizona has a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers before heading on the road to play a three-game set against San Diego to end the season.