The Diamondbacks didn't wait around to make a call. One night after Sewald came into a 6-3 game in the 9th and let Pittsburgh tie it before he could even record an out, Torey Lovullo pulled the plug on the closer experiment. MLB Trade Rumors broke the news Wednesday night that Sewald is officially out of the 9th-inning role, at least for now.
MLB Trade Rumors made it official: Sewald is done closing games for Arizona, for now.
This wasn't a one-bad-outing overreaction. Sewald's been bleeding runs for weeks. He's sitting at a 5.26 ERA on the season, but zoom in on the last 2 months and it's uglier: a 7.16 ERA over his last 18 appearances, with runs allowed in 4 of his last 5 outings and 8 of his last 13. He's also tied for the MLB lead among relievers with 11 home runs surrendered. That's not a slump, that's a pattern, and Lovullo finally acted on it.
The irony stings a little given the backstory. Sewald reunited with Arizona on a 1-year deal specifically to lock down the back of the bullpen, a role he'd handled well for the Diamondbacks before. Instead of a stabilizing veteran presence, the D-backs got a guy who couldn't hold multi-run leads, and now they're staring down the stretch run without a clear answer at closer.
For now, Lovullo says Arizona will lean on a closer-by-committee approach, picking arms based on matchups rather than handing the ball to one guy in the 9th. That's a fine stopgap in the regular season, but it's a shaky spot to be in with a playoff race still very much alive. Bullpen chaos in July has a nasty habit of following teams into August and September.
The fantasy and betting implications are immediate too. Saves are up for grabs in Arizona now, and whoever starts eating those high-leverage innings, whether it's a committee arm or someone who forces Lovullo's hand with results, becomes a real add. Watch how the next week of appearances shakes out before assuming anyone new is locked in.