Wednesday, September 23

Welcome to the D-backs Beat Newsletter! I’m Steve Gilbert and I’ve been writing about the D-backs since 1998...

Tonight begins the final stretch of games for the Diamondbacks, who open a three-game series with the Rockies at Coors Field before traveling to San Diego to finish up the season against the Padres.

Finish the regular season, that is. 

Yes, the Diamondbacks can still make the postseason, though, it seems catching the Padres at this point -- they trail San Diego by five games with six to play -- is a real long shot at this point, but the Phillies are a more reachable target. 

Yes, they trail the Phillies by four games with six to play, but Philadelphia's final six games include three at home against the Brewers and another three at home against the Rays. Those two teams lead their respective leagues in wins, and the Brewers at least are still playing for something, as they're trying to hold off the Dodgers for home field advantage throughout the postseason. 

The Diamondbacks no longer control their own fate, but taking two of three from the Yankees over the weekend gives them a puncher's chance in the final week. 

"We know where we are in the standings," manager Torey Lovullo said. "There's not a damn thing we can do about it, other than go out and play our finest game on Tuesday in Colorado, and that'll be our focus." 

Scoreboard watching is a real thing this time of year, and Lovullo has preached to his players to keep their focus only on winning that night's game and not on anything else. But he's also looked at the standings and calculated their odds. 

"I'm a human being," Lovullo said. "I think everybody's doing that. I'm adding things up and watching what's going on very closely, and we need things to go our way. The teams that are ahead of us are playing good baseball. One in particular [the Padres] have been on a heater, so you know, anything is possible. Anything's possible. We had a three-game lead with seven games to go in 2024, and we went home at the end of the year. So until we have an 'E' next to our name, I'm going to fight. This team's going to fight."

The Diamondbacks' Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles are in the Texas League finals and Alfred Morillo (no relation to Diamondbacks right-hander Juan Morillo) went viral with his celebration. This is from my colleague Jesse Borek's story on the night: 

Double-A Amarillo punched its ticket to the 2026 Texas League Finals after an epic seesaw series. The Sod Poodles erased a six-run deficit with their backs to the wall on Thursday before holding on for an 8-7 nail-biting win over Frisco at Riders Field on Friday night. 

So, yeah, D-backs prospect Alfred Morillo was pumped up. 

The righty was so amped that after securing the game-ending strikeout in the bottom of the ninth, he immediately ripped off his glove and executed a perfect backflip in one smooth motion. Catcher Alberto Barriga (AZ No. 16) sprinted out to the mound to join him with the rest of the Sod Poodles spilling out of the dugout to join the celebration.

Lovullo knew the Sod Poodles had clinched a spot in the finals, but didn't know about Morillo's celebration until he was shown the video prior to Sunday afternoon's game. 

"Woo!" Lovullo said. "That's pretty impressive. Yeah, that's hard to do." 

Lovullo was then asked what he would do if one of his pitchers did something like that. 

"First of all, I'd freak the [heck] out and tell him, 'Don't ever do that again,'" Lovullo said. 

The Diamondbacks have Michael Soroka, Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez in that order start the three games at Coors Field, but expect Lovullo to be aggressive in going to the bullpen as he has been for the past couple weeks. 

"I will say, and you guys have seen it happen several times over the past couple of weeks, I'm looking to get to our bullpen as soon as possible," Lovullo said. "It's an elite bullpen. Nothing against our starters. I just feel like after that second time around [the lineup], I'm going to be paying very close attention to where we are in the game."

-- Nolan Arenado got a second chance on Sunday and delivered the big blow of the game. 

-- One player to watch from each team in the final week of the season. 

-- Pavin Smith walked it off on the night the Diamondbacks celebrated a walk-off from 25 years ago. 

-- What a great job the Diamondbacks did in honoring the 2001 team prior to Saturday and it culminated with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling once again holding up a trophy. 

-- What an AMAZING save by Dr. Jesse McGuire when his trumpet malfunctioned during the national anthem on Saturday night. With a sold-out crowd, McGuire was as cool as the other side of the pillow. 

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