A couple short months ago the Arizona Diamondbacks were acting sellers trading away their top hitters and dependable arms. The message seemed clear: retool, reset expectations, look ahead. But nearly two months later, something unexpected is happening — Arizona is knocking on the door of the postseason. They’re very much alive in a Wild Card race that everyone assumed they’d be too far behind to matter in. Here’s how they got from the sell off your stars mindset in July to possibly stealing the final playoff spot from the Mets or Padres in the final two weeks of the season.
At the trade deadline, the D-backs sent off some of their highest value pieces. Eugenio Suárez was an offensive force before being traded, mashing 36 home runs and driving in roughly 87 RBIs by the time he left, numbers that put him among the league leaders. Josh Naylor, another middle-of-the-order bat, was hitting close to .292 with an OPS around .800, contributing double-digit home runs and steady RBI production by late July. Merrill Kelly, the reliable starter, had logged over 120 innings, maintained an ERA in the low 3s near 3.22, and racked up more than 120 strikeouts. Losing that trio meant losing power, consistency, and depth. Conventional wisdom said their playoff hopes were finished.
But the players who remained — and a few who joined — had other ideas. Catcher James McCann, signed mid-season, added some veteran stability and unexpected offense in key moments. Nabil Crismatt, pressed into the starting rotation, delivered a string of quality outings with an ERA comfortably below league average, keeping the team competitive every fifth day. Andrew Saalfrank became a key bullpen piece with a low ERA and WHIP while converting high-leverage innings into positive outcomes. Rookie infielder Blaze Alexander seized the third base job once Suárez was dealt and immediately contributed key hits, homers, and defense. Meanwhile, established stars like Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte kept the offense afloat. The power numbers dipped without Suárez and Naylor, but the lineup became more versatile, mixing clutch hits, patient at-bats, and manufactured runs to stay dangerous.
Since the deadline, Arizona has made a dramatic shift winning more than they had in the two months leading up to the deadline. Their run differential, negative in July, has turned modestly positive. The bullpen’s ERA has dropped, and the team’s OPS has improved as the new contributors settled in. Instead of slumping through long losing streaks, they’ve been finding ways to win close games, coming from behind and protecting slim leads—exactly the kind of performance that keeps a team in the playoff hunt.
Arizona sits at 77–75, just one or two games behind the Mets for the final National League Wild Card spot. The Padres hold one of the other Wild Card berths but could still be caught if they stumble down the stretch. For the Diamondbacks, the path is straightforward but demanding: keep winning, especially against divisional rivals, and hope that either the Mets or Padres drop enough games to create an opening. Their late-season schedule features opponents they can beat, and every victory tightens the pressure on the teams ahead of them.
Here’s the thing, folks: There are reasons to believe they can pull it off. Momentum matters, and Arizona’s post-deadline surge shows a team clicking when it counts. Their pitching staff has stabilized despite losing Kelly, with Crismatt giving them innings and the bullpen locking down games. The offense, while missing some of the pure power it had earlier, has found a balanced approach with situational hitting and timely home runs. This combination of steadier pitching, balanced offense, and late-game resilience has transformed a team that was supposed to fade into one capable of crashing the postseason party.
With that… The Diamondbacks have stitched together a run built on grit, unexpected contributions, and timely performances. If their pitching holds steady and their offense stays hot in these final days, Arizona could very well sneak past the Mets or even catch the Padres. For a team that was selling at the trade deadline, the idea of playoff baseball now feels thrillingly possible, a reminder that in baseball, nothing is decided until the final out of September.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them!