Arizona Diamondbacks Playoff Hunt: Is the NL West Already Decided?

The Diamondbacks are now officially at least a .500 baseball team for the 2011 season.  In spring training that was the most that any fan could have asked for.  Now, in the final weeks of the season, anything less than the NL West title will be a disappointment.

The magic number for the Diamondbacks to clinch the NL West for the fifth time in their history is 13.  The Diamondbacks' recent torrid play has all but secured a place in the postseason for Kirk Gibson and company.

They have been helped by the Giants, whose August resume featured series losses to three of the worst teams in the National League, the Pirates, Astros and Cubs.  The current World Series champions could potentially fail to achieve a .500 record just one season after claiming baseball’s top prize if they cannot manage to find seven more wins in their final 19 games.

The focus, at least for people outside the Diamondbacks, has shifted from winning the division to besting the Brewers’ record so that the team can postpone facing Philadelphia’s transcendent pitching staff for at least one round.

That could be a task easier said than done.

The Brewers have been one of the few teams hotter than the Diamondbacks in recent weeks.  They have shredded divisional opponents and the Phillies are the only team with a winning record they will face for the remainder of the regular season.

Whoever their first round opponent, the Diamondbacks will surely be a heavy underdog after a recent poor road trip against both teams where they went a combined 1-5.  However the season series is much more equal with their season record against the Phillies at 3-3 and the Braves at 2-3.

However, as the Giants showed last year, and how many other teams have showed many other years, once a team makes it to the postseason anything can happen.