In the week leading up to the All-Star Game, Paul Sewald served as the Diamondbacks’ closer.
Now a week after the deadline, Arizona moved on from a reliever who has 24 saves this season in a move that manager Torey Lovullo deemed as “agonizing.”
“First of all, it was a brutal decision,” Lovullo said Monday after the team designated Sewald for assignment ahead of its 9-0 home win over the lowly Rockies. “He’s meant so much to this organization. He’s closed our 24 games, he solidified things for our ’23 run, he had a number of saves in ’24 before he got banged up. You learned to appreciate the human being at a certain point. He’s such a great competitor and was having so much success, and on top of that, he’s a friend of all of us. He’s just a good person. … To say goodbye to him, was not easy. It’s agonizing.”
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald reacts in the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It’s unusual to see a team axe a reliever with 24 saves this deep into the season, but a combination of several factors led to the Diamondbacks parting ways with the ex-Met.
Sewald, 36, owned a 3.18 ERA with 18 saves and just one blown save through June 18.
In the 11 games that followed, he notched an 11.57 ERA while blowing two of his eight save chances.
He lost his job as the closer after blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning in an 8-7 win over the Pirates in 12 innings on July 28, and responded by allowing five runs without recording an out in his first appearance after being demoted on Aug. 1 in a 12-8 win over the Guardians.
Sewald’s final outing came Aug. 5 to put the finishing touches on a 10-4 win over the Rockies.
Lovullo explained that Sewald had fallen down the depth chart to the point he filled the role of a long man/mop-up duty, but that wouldn’t be “an area of (Sewald’s) strength.”
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo reacts in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, July 27, 2026, in Pittsburgh. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Instead, Arizona added veteran Zack Littell — a starter — to fill that role
Lovullo noted how fellow relievers Brandyn Garcia, ex-yankee Jonathan Loaisiga, Kevin Ginkle and Juan Morillo had passed Sewald on the depth chart while the team attempts to retain its Wild Card spot.
“Guys are really getting after it. And he understood that. I think it was painful for him, and we said our goodbyes, but more like we’ll see you later, that’s the mindset,” Lovullo said. “I just feel like, the role he was in, we needed a little bit more length and that’s where Zack (Littell) comes in…”
Sewald could land with another contending team due to his track record, but his 6.23 ERA makes him more of a flier than someone a team can count on for their bridge to their closer.
Sewald put together a fine career after a rocky start with the Mets.
After posting a 5.50 ERA through his first four seasons in Flushing, Sewald rebounded to notch 107 saves spanning time with the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Guardians and Tigers.
