Thanks to a 13-8 start in June, the Diamondbacks have pushed themselves into the thick of a very crowded National League Wild Card race. They enter play on June 24 at 38-40, a full game back of the San Diego Padres for the third Wild Card spot. They’ll close out the month of June hosting the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics, three games apiece. So it will be imperative for the team to finish the month out strong, as they face a tough slate of teams in the first two weeks of July.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Twins will be the more difficult challenge of the two teams, although the Diamondbacks should not overlook the A’s either. Minnesota is 43-35 and currently sitting in the second American League Wild Card spot. They’ve won eight of their past 11 games and will try to continue their roll this week. The Twins feature one of the best lineups in baseball, with their team’s adjusted OPS+ of 110 ranking seventh in Major League Baseball, and their best two starters will pitch in the series.
The Diamondbacks need to show they can win a series against a team with strong postseason aspirations. Not only would that improve their chances but also give them some confidence going into a difficult stretch of games to close out the first half. In order to get into the postseason, they’re going to have to beat some good teams and pitchers.
The next series will be against the A’s. The Diamondbacks should be getting some reinforcements in that series, with Zac Gallen and Alek Thomas possibly on track to return next weekend. The A’s are in last place in the AL West with a 29-51 record, but they have some good players on that team that can win games if you let them. It’s a much more competitive team than last season, even if the win-loss record doesn’t completely reflect that.
Just like when they faced the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox in back-to-back series at home two weeks ago, Oakland serves as a test for them to maintain the focus level. In that stretchy, Arizona went 4-2 and won both series. As was the case in those two aforementioned series, it will be imperative for them not to drop the series against a team they should beat at home.
A 4-2 homestand against the Twins and A’s would give the Diamondbacks a 17-10 record for June and a 42-42 record on the season. With the team waiting for some of their key players to come back from injury, they’ll need to continue to stay afloat in the National League Wild Card race.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
