Paul Sewald entered July riding a streak of 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings. He had allowed just one earned run all season and had already secured 11 saves.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!However, his fortunes took a dramatic turn over the course of a single month. Sewald started July by giving up seven earned runs in just 1.2 innings. For the first time in his career, he blew three consecutive saves. The veteran closer’s struggles continued, culminating on July 28th when he blew his fourth save of the month. Just days later, he nearly blew a fifth save, allowing two earned runs on a walk and three hits against the Nationals. He failed to finish the inning and had to be bailed out by Ryan Thompson, who preserved the Diamondbacks’ 5-4 lead.
Heading into their series against the Nationals to start this week, over their last 25 games, the Diamondbacks held a 16-9 record. Which is still good, but not as good as it should have been. The D-backs held leads into the 8th inning during six of their nine losses. Sewald blew four of those games. Without Sewald’s struggles, the Diamondbacks might have secured additional wins against the Dodgers, Braves, Padres, and Pirates—all teams in or within reach of a postseason spot.
In response to these challenges, manager Torey Lovullo announced that Sewald will no longer be the Diamondbacks‘ primary closer, according to Steve Gilbert at MLB.com.
Lovullo noted that he has not made a decision on who will be Arizona’s new closer. In the beginning of the season, when Sewald was on the IL, Kevin Ginkel acted as the D-backs primary closer. While he did pick up five saves, he also blew four in just a couple of months.
As Lovullo pointed out, it will likely come down to matchups on who the Diamondbacks will hand the ball over to in the 9th inning.
Stay tuned for further updates.
