Manager Torey Lovullo leads the Arizona Diamondbacks with a steady hand as the team aims for a strong finish to the season in the NL wild-card race. (Photo by Samuel Nute/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – The 2024 Arizona Diamondbacks have experienced a whirlwind of a season. Coming off a miracle postseason run in 2023 that culminated with a trip to the World Series, the team started cold through the first two months of play, accumulating a 25-32 record. Now, with three weeks left before the playoffs, Arizona is back to its winning ways and eyes even more postseason magic.
With 16 games remaining in the regular season, the team is 82-64, first in the National League wild-card race, which the Diamondbacks lead over the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.
“Just staying positive,” starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt said of manager Torey Lovullo’s message to the team as it embraces the season’s final stretch. “Playing the game that we’ve played all year and being consistent, I think that’s kind of what we’ve tried to do all year, and we’re certainly looking forward to doing it, even though it’s kind of later in the season.
“We’re trying to remain consistent and make that push.”
While the Diamondbacks are in a playoff race now, making that final push does not get easier as the season draws to a close. The team plays 10 of its remaining 16 contests against playoff opponents, including two important series against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. The first series against Milwaukee begins Friday at Chase Field; Arizona travels to Milwaukee for a key four-game series later this month.
Milwaukee is a familiar foe for this current Diamondbacks core. The two teams met in last season’s NL Wild Card Series, where Arizona swept the Brewers, 2-0, in Milwaukee.
“That’s a great team,” Arizona first baseman Christian Walker said of the Brewers. “We’ve been seeing more, obviously, (of) the (NL) Central teams with the new scheduling, but yeah we’re looking forward to it. We always seem to throw off a couple good games against those guys. They’re having a great year, we’re having a good year, so it should be fun.”
The Brewers remain mostly the same, but a new face runs Milwaukee in 2024. After longtime Brewers manager Craig Counsell shifted 90 miles south to the division rival Chicago Cubs, Pat Murphy was promoted from bench coach to manager.
Murphy is well-connected to the Phoenix area. From 1995 to 2009, Murphy coached Arizona State’s baseball program to 629 wins, four Pac-10 titles, four College World Series trips and four Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards.
Murphy hopes to bring Milwaukee its fifth postseason appearance in the last seven years as a first-year manager.
A key component to Arizona experiencing late-season success will be the team’s ability to return to full strength. Walker, a longtime Diamondback and one of the team’s best power hitters, recently returned to the lineup after a month-long stay on the injured list. He strained his left oblique in late July and returned to action Sept. 3.
Walker looked like his normal self in the Diamondbacks’ first game at Chase Field since his injury. In a 2023 World Series rematch against the Texas Rangers, Walker torched a home run in each of his first two at-bats against Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi Tuesday night, helping Arizona to a 6-0 win.
“It’s an interesting perspective, being in the fight every day and then all of a sudden you’re watching the games on TV,” Walker said of his absence from the lineup. “I take the game pretty seriously. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, but all of a sudden you’re sitting on the couch, and you just want to be on the field. The results don’t feel like they matter as much.
“You know, (I’m) just trying to be grateful for the opportunity to be on the field every day and be here with my teammates and work hard and get to go into battle with them.”
The Diamondbacks are looking forward to other important faces returning to the field. Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., a 2023 All-Star, and Gold Glove catcher Gabriel Moreno are both on the injured list. Gurriel Jr. last played on Sept. 1, while Moreno has been sidelined since Aug. 5.
“Moreno’s going to catch bullpen, they’re going to take some at-bats off the Trajekt (pitching machine),” Lovullo said Wednesday before the Diamondbacks smashed the Rangers, 14-4. “We may get Moreno on the Trajekt to catch some real live hot balls, more high intensity, but we’re going to see how he’s feeling throughout the course of the day.”
Lastly, the Diamondbacks’ recent success has been bolstered by filling in holes with veteran talent. Arizona opened up its checkbook during the offseason to sign Randal Grichuk and Joc Pederson, while trading for Eugenio Suarez before the season and Josh Bell right before the July 30 trade deadline.
Suarez has performed well in his time with Arizona. He is second on the team with 28 home runs after clubbing two against the Rangers on Wednesday. Since July 1, Suarez leads MLB with 22 home runs and 60 RBIs and leads the NL in batting average and OPS.
Bell is accustomed to moving teams at the trade deadline. He was part of the blockbuster deal that sent him and Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres in 2022. Last season, the Miami Marlins traded for Bell, and he helped guide the team to its first full-season postseason berth since Miami won the World Series in 2003.
Bell, a nine-year MLB veteran, has yet to win a World Series ring. He hopes to accomplish that goal with the Diamondbacks come late October.
“Obviously, the last couple years I’ve gotten traded to a contending team,” Bell said. “Hopefully this third year I’ll be able to taste champagne at the end of the season, as well.”
