The Arizona Diamondbacks may miss the playoffs again this season, but next year could shape up to be better.
The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is in its final week, and the Arizona Diamondbacks are fighting to try and keep their playoff hopes alive.
At the time of writing, the Diamondbacks are fourth in the National League Wild Card standings, and they need to lock up the third-place spot to secure a bid for October. The problem is, they are four games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for third in the race.
For a while, it was the San Diego Padres that the Diamondbacks were trailing. But since San Diego has been surging, things have changed.
It does not change the fact that Arizona is going to basically have to be perfect over its final six games to get in, and even that does not guarantee anything. So, if the Diamondbacks do not make it to the postseason, what can fans and the organization look forward to next year?
The player who comes to mind
Recently, The Athletic put together its end-of-season power rankings, and these ones included one thing to look forward to regarding each team.
After sitting in 10th in the previous rankings, the Diamondbacks have now fallen out of the top 10 and are tied for 11th with the Chicago White Sox. This makes sense given that Arizona just dropped two of its three series during a critical homestand.
However, there is one player that The Athletic pointed to that provides optimism for the 2027 season, and that is Corbin Burnes.
The last year-plus has not been easy for Burnes. The former Cy Young Award winner underwent Tommy John surgery in 2025, and he was set to make a comeback earlier this season before a right teres major muscle strain prolonged his absence.
Burnes returned earlier in September, but after a lot of time away, he has not quite looked like himself. Still, we cannot forget who Burnes was before the injury, and who he can be once he is fully back to normal.
The Diamondbacks certainly need the best version of him, and they should get that next season, if there is a next season. A looming MLB lockout certainly changes the trajectory of things, but the silver lining in that is that Burnes will have more time to recover.
Arizona has had an up-and-down season, and if this campaign does not end in a playoff run, then the front office will have plenty of time to get to work on building for the future. Who knows? There might be more things to look forward to in time.
