SAN DIEGO -- One day after being eliminated from the postseason race, the Diamondbacks began looking toward the future on Saturday.
GM Mike Hazen and assistant GM Mike Fitzgerald flew over from Phoenix to join assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and manager Torey Lovullo in conducting exit interviews with players, something they don't begin until they are eliminated from contention.
In 2023, when they went to the World Series, and 2024, when they were eliminated a day after their season ended as the Braves and Mets split a doubleheader, the interviews were conducted over Zoom.
One of the players they met with in person before a 5-1 loss to the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park was right-hander Zac Gallen, who is set to be a free agent and likely pitched his final game for Arizona on Friday night. It was a tough night for Gallen, who long after the game ended still had his jersey on, not wanting to take it off for the final time.
"It's heartbreaking," Lovullo said. "I heard about that. I didn't see it. I guess he was eating dinner in it, and he was here, probably one of the last guys in the clubhouse, and still had his jersey on. That means a lot to me. And he just got done explaining how much this organization means to him. We know that he's on a journey this offseason that none of us know about, and it's very unpredictable. So things might change, things might not change, and there's some unknown in this game, you deal with that as best you possibly can.
“We just had a really emotional meeting with him, and things he said meant a lot to me, and I know the things that we said meant a lot to him."
Perdomo plays
No one for the Diamondbacks has played more than Geraldo Perdomo, who has seen action in all but one game this year -- and that was back on May 13.
Lovullo's preference was to give Perdomo either Saturday or Sunday off, but the shortstop told Lovullo he wanted to play Saturday and probably Sunday as well.
Perdomo is coming up on a pair of round number milestones this year. He got one of them Saturday, when he hit his 20th homer of the year. That left him one RBI shy of 100 for the year.
It has been a career year for Perdomo, who entered Saturday with a 6.9 bWAR. No position player is higher, though two-way player Shohei Ohtani was at 7.4, primarily through his work as a batter.
Perdomo has emerged as a team leader. Part of his wanting to finish out the season is because he wants to set an example. And despite his tremendous success this year, he has one area of his game that he was not satisfied with -- his defense.
"I feel like it's been a great season,” Perdomo said. “But on the glove side for me, it's been my worst season. Even if the numbers say it is positive for me, I feel bad, I feel disappointed with the way I've been performing on defense because that's not me.
“I feel that I'm the type of player that doesn't make a lot of errors, and I feel I make a lot of mistakes so far this season on defense. So I feel I need to put a little bit more effort in this offseason."
Day off for Marte, Carroll
Both Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll were out of the starting lineup Saturday, and whether they play the finale Sunday remains to be seen. Lovullo is likely to give them the option of whether they want to play or not.
"Both have been playing banged up," Lovullo said. "And from me to them through the media, and I've explained it to them, as well, I just want to say thank you for what they've done. Their bodies are not 100%. Corbin with a broken hand playing through pain that nobody else can possibly understand. Ketel playing banged up, got hit on the foot and came back and I know that his lower half is not 100%.
“But I just wanted the guys out there, because they are a couple of the best players in the National League, and their presence means a lot when you take the field."