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- Jun 18, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll (7) loses his helmet as he runs to third base on a triple against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Surging Diamondbacks Defy Trade Deadline Fire Sale Trend, Instead Now Chase Wild Card Spot in Dramatic Final Week

Originally posted on Total Apex Sports | By Don Watz | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 10:43 PM ET

Last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks faltered at the end of the season, and their overall record was 89-73. In 2023, the D-Backs had a record of 84-78. Therefore, the casual baseball fan might guess their World Series run was in 2024.

Wrong. It was 2023. They missed the playoffs in 2024.

Now in 2025, with six games remaining, the D-Backs find themselves in the running for the last National League Wild Card Spot. Apparently, winning 89 games is overrated, and for the D-Backs, it is impossible this year with a 79-77 record with six games left and going into a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers starting Tuesday.

Diamondbacks Fire Sale Caused a New Response – Winning

The Minnesota Twins followed a trading deadline ritual. They threw up the white flag after trading away Carlos Correa, Harrison Bader and Willi Castro, the bat boy and several others. Morale is low. Attendance is low. The only players happy are the fringe major leaguers who are in the Twin Cities years ahead of time instead of long bus rides in the Minor Leagues.

The D-Backs were sellers at the trade deadline too. They moved on from Eugenio Suárez, Randal Grichuk, Merrill Kelly and Josh Naylor. Time to tank it. Time to schedule the Italy trip during the first week of October. The D-Backs, however, apparently did not get the memo.

As the trading deadline shock wore off, they figured something out. They are now more athletic and can still play baseball pretty well. Their winning percentage is over 65 percent since July 31. GM Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports: “We’ve played much better since [the Deadline]. We’ve played more disciplined since then. It’s hard to truly understand it at times, but the defense has been, overall and objectively, much better. And I think that has been a major catalyst to smoothing out some of the pitching stuff.”

If the D-Backs Had a Kind Of, Sort Of, Even Half Way Decent BullPen, They Would Already Have Clinched the Playoffs

The D-Backs need to leap-frog the Cincinnati Reds and the fading New York Mets to get the last spot in the NL Wild Card. If they get in, watch out. Remember 2023? They barely made the playoffs and played like a team with nothing to lose, and did not lose much on their way to the World Series against the eventual champs the Texas Rangers.

If the D-Backs do fall short, it is easy to point to the reason why, and it has nothing to do with the trades made around the deadline in July. It is their bullpen. You think the Detroit Tigers have bullpen problems as they choke down the stretch? They have a fabulous bullpen when you compare them to the D-Backs. Arizona has blown 29 save opportunities this year. Only 59% of save opportunities have ended in a save.

Season-ending injuries to relievers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez started the slide. Kevin Ginkel, a 2023 Playoff run hero, has been injured most of the year. They traded Shelby Miller. That leads to an unusual record. In one season, they have the highest number of players to record at least one save (15). Let’s take a minute to digest this. Normally a team will have one, two maybe three pitchers in a position to record a save in a season on a regular basis. Based on circumstances, and a long season the number of pitchers to record a save might get to six. Maybe seven. But 15. That is crazy!

Yes, crazy. But here they are, in downtown Phoenix, hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers and ready to make a run for the final Wild Card sport. If that happens, maybe they will sweep their way into the NCLS. They did it in 2023. It makes for great drama in the final week of the season. Much better than the path teams like the Twins took after being sellers in July.

“We love drama. I love drama. I love trying to find a solution. This is not unfamiliar territory for us,” Diamondbacks coach Torey Lovullo said at a recent news conference.

This article first appeared on Total Apex Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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