Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen has complimented his team’s talent dating back to before the trade deadline and before a 20-5 push that thrust the D-backs into the playoff mix to the point a berth seemed inevitable.
It’s no surprise a guy who built the roster would believe in it, especially coming off a World Series appearance last year with a quite similar roster.
But Hazen has too often found himself speaking on his belief in theoreticals — and with a worry that the playoffs might not become reality. That is the case with four games left in the season and the team on a three-game skid.
“Quite frankly, if you’re going to plan to run through October and play the elite teams on the road and beat ’em, you have to play better baseball. We have to start doing that, no matter what, starting today,” Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Wednesday.
Arizona opened the day a half-game up on the Atlanta Braves for the third and final NL Wild Card slot. They have one game left Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants before a three-game set to close the season at Chase Field against the San Diego Padres.
San Diego is currently still in reach of nabbing NL West division title and is in a series against the leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the Braves and New York Mets are facing off with two games left in that set, but rainy weather from a hurricane will postpone both games to Monday.
The D-backs found themselves stumbling nervously in hopes of securing a playoff berth last year. They didn’t clinch until Oct. 1, 2023, to close the regular season. Arizona lost to the Houston Astros but got in that day when the Cincinnati Reds lost to the St. Louis Cardinals.
“We’ve done this before, unfortunately,” Hazen said nearly a year later. “This wasn’t how anybody wanted to draw it up.
“My hope is that we’re going to win 90 games. Hope, what does that matter?” he added. “The talent that goes out on the field that goes out and executes is what matters. We do have that. … We don’t just have good players — we have elite players, and you win with elite players in this league. I’m not saying we’re clicking on elite levels at all times … we have that elite talent and we have some experience now. … We’ve been here, we’ve seen this and we have talented players.”