Thanks to Tropical Storm Ophelia, Saturday afternoon’s Arizona Diamondbacks vs. New York Yankees game at Yankee Stadium has already been postponed. The Yankees say a makeup date has yet to be determined. The two clubs are scheduled to finish their three-game series Sunday afternoon, though there is more rain in the forecast.
Here is the announcement. The Yankees say Saturday’s Aaron Judge No. 62 bobblehead promotion has been rescheduled for April 20 of next season.
Saturday’s rainout is notable because the games matter in the NL wild-card race, and the D-Backs and Yankees do not have any common off-days remaining this season. If the weather doesn’t allow for a doubleheader Sunday, there is no obvious makeup date. Here are the NL wild-card standings with nine days remaining in the regular season:
- Philadelphia Phillies: 85-69 (+5 GB)
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 81-73 (+1 GB)
- Chicago Cubs: 80-74
=============================== - Miami Marlins: 79-75 (1 GB)
- Cincinnati Reds: 79-76 (1.5 GB)
It’s a very tight race and in all likelihood these last two games with the Yankees will determine where the D-Backs are seeded in the wild-card standings, if not whether they make the postseason at all. When makeup games have no bearing on the postseason race, MLB will cancel them, which is why you see a team with 161 games played every few years. That is unlikely to be the case here.
Here is what the Yankees and D-Backs have on the schedule the rest of this season:
| D-Backs | Yankees | |
|---|---|---|
|
Sunday, Sept. 24 |
at Yankees |
vs. D-Backs |
|
Monday, Sept. 25 |
at White Sox |
off-day |
|
Tuesday, Sept.. 26 |
at White Sox |
at Blue Jays |
|
Wednesday, Sept. 27 |
at White Sox |
at Blue Jays |
|
Thursday, Sept. 28 |
off-day |
at Blue Jays |
|
Friday, Sept. 29 |
vs. Astros |
at Royals |
|
Saturday, Sept. 30 |
vs. Astros |
at Royals |
|
Sunday, Oct. 1 |
vs. Astros |
at Royals |
Assuming the D-Backs and Yankees won’t be able to play a doubleheader Sunday to complete their series — again, Sunday’s forecast looks no better than Saturday’s — I see three possible options to make up any rainouts. In no particular order:
- Keep the D-Backs in New York and make them play any makeup games Monday. Postpone the first game of Arizona’s series with the White Sox and reschedule it for Thursday’s common off-day (the ChiSox are off that day too).
- Keep the D-Backs in New York and make them play any makeup games Monday. Postpone the first game of Arizona’s series with the White Sox and make it up as part of a doubleheader Wednesday (so the D-Backs would not potentially have to play back-to-back doubleheaders Monday and Tuesday).
- Drag the D-Backs and Yankees back to Yankee Stadium on Monday, Oct. 2, and play any makeup game(s) the day after the regular season is supposed to end. Arizona would then potentially have to play Wild Card Series Game 1 the next day.
There’s no good solution here and the third bullet point is the one no one wants. The D-Backs don’t want to have to fly back to New York from Arizona and lose their off-day before the Wild Card Series (they will if they have to, but they don’t want to), and the Yankees don’t want to hang around to play a makeup game(s) when they’re out of the race and their season is supposed to be over.
The other option is the D-Backs finish in a spot where the makeup game(s) do not matter. Either they’re secure enough in their wild-card spot or far enough out of the race that the remaining game(s) with the Yankees will not alter seeding or the postseason bracket. The D-Backs only have so much control there though. The Cubs, Marlins, and Reds have a say in that too.
Sunday’s forecast for New York is not good and it seems unlikely the Yankees and D-Backs will be able to play a doubleheader to wrap up their series. MLB, which handles all weather-related decisions this late in the season, will have no choice but to come up with a creative solution. These games matter in the NL wild-card race and canceling them outright is a non-option.
