After being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks fall half a game behind the Giants in the WildCard race.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The National League WildCard race can really be anyones games. There is about four teams in serious contention for the third wildcard spot. Arizona and San Francisco have gone blow for blow in the past two weeks for the spot. San Francisco is currently just half a game above the Diamondbacks.
The Diamondbacks and Giants have a two game set that will be played in Arizona in mid-September. I can only imagine that series will determine who gets in and who doesn’t. The Diamondbacks have had success against WildCard competition as of late. Recently the Diamondbacks took three of four against the Reds who are just one game back.
Arizona will also play the Chicago Cubs twice in the month of September. The first is a four game set in Chicago during the Diamondbacks east coast road trip. As soon as they find themselves back in Phoenix the Diamondbacks will see the Cubs once again for a three game set.
What’s the key to finishing strong for a WildCard spot?
Pitching, pitching and pitching. Recently in a three game series in Los Angeles the Diamondbacks pitching was devastated with a barrage of home runs. If the Diamondbacks really want to make a post season push they have to turn to their arms to limit teams scoring.
Arizona has the Cy Young front runner in Zac Gallen but having one guy just isn’t enough in the bigs. Merrill Kelly of the Dbacks also has to carry a ton of weight in the bullpen to help the team along. Young reliever Bryce Jarvis has been lights out since being called up and in my opinion should be looked at more. However, the lack of experience could make Lovullo shy away from him. You also need a guy to go to in big game situations and Paul Sewald could be that with his experience in the bigs.
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Devan Blankenship is a sports and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @DevanB2456 for premium Arizona Diamondbacks.
