Nerves high as D-backs push for postseason

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It's a nervous time for D-backs fans with four games left to go in the season and a postseason berth hanging in the balance. But in the Arizona clubhouse, it feels like déjà vu all over again.

That's because the situation -- season winding down, postseason status unknown -- is nearly identical to what they experienced last year when they clinched an NL Wild Card berth on the second-to-last day of the season despite finishing with four straight losses.

You know the rest of the story as the D-backs shocked the baseball world with a run to the World Series.

"I think it's easy to look at these games in a vacuum and make it feel like this is make or break on the season," first baseman Christian Walker said. "And, I mean, I guess it is to some extent, but also, you know, we played 158 games up until this point that all are equally as valuable as each of these next four. So as far as the players' energy, I think it's a lot about doing what we've been doing all year. Yeah, awareness is high, and the moments feel bigger, but I think that's even more of a challenge to trust each other and trust that we're prepared for this and we don't have to do anything extra."

That's the tricky thing about baseball -- sometimes when you try harder, the results wind up being worse.

"I just think when your intentions are right every day, I feel like it takes that added pressure off," outfielder Jake McCarthy said. "We're always trying. I'm trying to make plays on defense, and I'm trying to get a pace when I'm in the box. And, you know, just because we're closer to the end now doesn't really mean that should change. So that's where I'm at."

Not only did the D-backs face similar pressure in the last week of the 2023 season, they also felt even more when they were down 3-2 to the Phillies in the NL Championship Series and headed back to Philadelphia needing to sweep two games.

They accomplished that before falling in five games to the Rangers in the World Series. The experience is something that they remember.

"I think a good challenge for us over the next few days is [to] just keep doing what we've been doing," Walker said. "And I think with every year you get a little bit more experienced and you try to put it more in the fun category and less in the anxious category. And I think if we all have fun over the next week or so and lean on each other, I think we'll be in a good spot."

Reminder that the best way to keep track of where things stand in the playoff race is with MLB.com's Postseason Watch.