Paul Sewald Became the Closer the Diamondbacks Always Needed

When Paul Sewald first arrived in Arizona after a trade deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners, expectations were high. He was  coming to a team that had been trying to get by with a closer by committee approach for the first four months of the season. That approach failed miserably for the team as the relievers asked to take turns filling the ninth inning role ended up taking turns failing in that role. 

Enter Sewald, who came with the tag "proven closer" attached. Signed by Seattle as a free agent in 2021, he transitioned to the closer's role in July of that year. By 2022 he had established himself as one of the more reliable options in the American League. In 2023 he had already saved 21 games at the time he was traded, and throughout his time in Seattle he posted a 2.88 ERA in 172 games, saving 52 of them. 

Things got off to an inauspicious start with his new team. He blew his very first save chance on August 6th, giving up two homers and three runs without recording an out. He settled down to save seven in a row, but then blew his second save in nine chances on August 26th.  He settled down after that, and didn't blow another save for the rest of the regular season. Some of the outings seemed shaky however, as through the first part of September he still struggled with command and walks and base runners. Some of the saves felt like white knuckle adventures. 

"I came over, wasn't nearly as crisp as I was in Seattle, which was a little frustrating maybe for the first six weeks. You really want to get off to a good start and make a good impression with the new team, and I didn't do the best I that could on that."

Then, after working hard on his delivery he seemed to find his groove over the final couple of weeks of the season, not walking any batters over his final four outings.  "We worked hard on trying to make sure we had everything clicking as late in the season as we possibly could. I just feel like I kind of started to get everything clicking right into the postseason." Sewald said. 

The only way to describe his pitching since then is lights out. In seven postseason outings he is 1-0 with five saves and has not allowed a run. He's given up just three hits, one walk, and struck out 11. One of the reasons he's been so sharp is the the  schedule has allowed for extra off days, giving him rest at all the right times. Earlier in the NLCS Torey Lovullo was asked why he didn't turn to Sewald in non-save situation, and the manager made clear he was saving his arm for later in the series when he'd be called upon to pitch in several games in a row. That rest in between outings has allowed him to stay sharp. 

"We’ve done a great job of making sure that with all these off days, I've been fresh and made sure that -- not getting rusty, but just fresh and crisp, and it's led to a pretty good postseason so far."

Heading into today's Game 7, he is trying to keep an even keel emotionally and focus on the processes that got him here.

"Obviously we know it's Game 7 in the NLCS. The winner gets to go to the World Series. But when you start to put too much pressure on a result rather than a process is when you start to get out of your process and start to not perform the way you can."

Sewald highlighted the fact that both teams are under pressure. The Phillies of course made it all the way to the World Series last year before losing to the Houston Astros in the fall classic. "It's a really good, battle-tested team that went to the World Series last year. They know what it's like to deal with pressure. There's pressure on both teams. Like I said, the loser's season is over tonight, whether you are the favorite or the underdog. There's pressure on both sides, and whoever handles it the best, will get to celebrate at the end of the day."

The Diamondbacks have been battle tested too however. They had to fight and scratch and claw their way into the postseason and have fought back from 2-0 and 3-2 down in this NLCS before forcing a Game 7. 

"We have just felt like we've played with our backs against the wall all postseason. Maybe all season. So I think we've played in that underdog mode more so far this year, so I think if we can just keep playing like that, that's our best chance."

Sewald had a very interesting answer to the question of what surprised him the most after coming over to the Diamondbacks in August. 

"I would say probably Corbin Carroll is even better in person than he is watching highlights on TV. I think that's probably what caught me by surprise most. I was so lucky to have Julio [Rodriguez] as the Rookie of The Year last year, and now I get to have him as the Rookie of The Year on my team. I'm just very fortunate to get to surround myself with absolute superstars like that.

I think he just plays even faster in person than the stat sheet says or what you would see on TV. That's probably what kind of surprised me the most about the team was that he just really is everything that anybody could write about him."

Sewald threw 11 pitches last night.  Before that he worked in back to back games on October 19th and 20th in the two games the Diamondbacks won in Chase Field against the Phillies.  If he gets into tonight's game, there is a good chance the Diamondbacks will have a chance to get into the World Series.