89 wins is by no means a disaster.
As, probably not entirely unexpected, the double-header in Atlanta ended in a split, thereby eliminating the D-backs from the post-season. The Mets edged the Braves in the opener, coming back in the ninth to prevail 8-7, and thereby punch their ticket to the post-season. The result meant Arizona fans became Met-heads for the day, needing another New York victory to give the D-backs a post-season spot. When news broke that Atlanta ace Chris Sale had been scratched with back spasms, hope blossomed, but then New York announced they wee giving the start to Joey Lucchesi, who had made one appearance in the majors this year.
To be fair, Lucchesi held up his side of the deal admirably. He was left out there to die by the Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza, throwing 111 pitches, a figure reached precisely ONCE by a New York pitcher this year. He held the Braves to one run on two hits, so I’ve no argument there at all. The Mets hitters, on the other hand, were acting as if they had a plane to catch – in fairness, they actually did. They really seemed to be phoning in most of the at-bats, and were kept off the board with ease by Grant Holmes, who struck our seven over four innings. A key throwing error lets the Braves tack on, and that was effectively that.
I’m not going to deny, the way it went down leaves a bit of a nasty taste. MLB now has it’s own version of the ‘Disgrace of Gijon’, a supposedly decisive match-up where effort was obviously and sorely lacking. Might I suggest the “Atrocity in Atlanta”? If MLB had been a little more pro-active with regard to Hurricane Helena – something everybody else seemed to know was coming – this would not have been necessary. There were options, including using a mutual off-day, playing a double-header, and moving up the start time of a game. Instead, Rob Manfred twiddled his thumbs and ended up bowing to the gods of money, yet again. Per Joel Sherman in the New York Post:
Background conversations with involved personnel indicated that basically the Braves were expecting large attendance for the three games… and did not want to forego the gates nor work through the logistics of moving personnel such as security, concessionaires, etc. to other dates or start times. The two teams had a common off day on Monday. The weather was such that a doubleheader could have been played Tuesday. The Mets pitched the idea of moving up the start time Wednesday before the forecast worsened… But MLB did not force a change of any type.
Of course, the D-backs only have themselves to blame, having spurned numerous chances to get over the finish line before today. September certainly wasn’t a disaster – they finished the month 13-13. But they could only manage two wins in their final seven games; one more would have seen them play on into October. I’m sure all those people, “sitting in their basements pounding away on the keyboard,” to quote Torey Lovullo, are gleefully posting their #FireTorey takes as we speak. But as usual, that’s a kneejerk response. There’s a reason it’s a 162-game season, and the reality is: a definitive majority of Arizona fans would have been very happy an 89-win campaign on Opening Day.
I can say this, because we actually asked Arizona fans for their predictions before Opening Day, and 60% came in at 89 wins or fewer. Considering all the problems the team had, especially on the pitching side, it’s frankly miraculous they came so far. Especially considering the team was 35-42 and looked moribund at the end of May. Just swap August and September, and you get exactly the same final wintotal. Except now, it would be a sterling comeback by the D-backs, which fell just short. It’s obviously disappointing to come THAT close. But anyone who lived through the (remarkably recent) dark days, culminating in 110 losses will tell you this is just a little better.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. 2023-24 have been the most entertaining consecutive seasons of Diamondbacks baseball since 2001-02. There’s clearly a lot of work to be done over the winter: the team certainly needs to fix its pitching, Christian Walker will be a free-agent, and other decisions have to be made. I think, once the dust has settled and the immediacy of the pain has faded – possibly after some lashing out in anger and gratuitous over-reacting – we will look at the 2024 Diamondbacks with relative fondness. I see them as a team which came back from the dead, and just ran out of gas before the finish line. I may be mixing my metaphors there.
The SnakePit is, as ever, not going anywhere. We’ll have playoff Gameday Threads throughout the post-season, and later tonight will have reaction from the rest of the writers. Stay tuned, and take care of yourselves, and each other.