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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JUNE 01: Paul Sewald #38 of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers a ninth inning pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. Diamondbacks won 4-1. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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The Diamondbacks bullpen may be getting reinforcements shortly, in the long-absent shape of A.J. Puk, who last pitched for the team on April 17 last year. He has been on rehab assignments in the minors, and has made five appearances there since May 23. However, I use the word “may”, since Nick Piecoro reported yesterday that Puk was experiencing shoulder discomfort as a result of those outings, and will undergo an MRI. So his return is now at least a few weeks off. I’m just glad that when we posed this week’s question, “when he’s healthy” was affixed to the end. Anyway, the topic was whether or not Puk should take over from Sewald immediately. Here are the results.
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That’s quite a resounding show of support for Sewald. To his credit, Paul has been almost perfect in the role, with just one blown save in sixteen opportunities, and a 2.30 ERA there. Of course, there are the four losses and a 5.87 ERA over his ten appearances in non-save situations. But closers tend to be measured largely by how they close, and it’s hard to argue against Sewald there. It’s very much a “Ride or die” mentality there: as long as you don’t blow saves, nobody is too bothered what happens. My concerns, personally, are more whether Sewald can be as effective going forward, because the peripherals aren’t great, and suggest he may be over-performing.
He goes into this Cincinnati series with 15 saves, a number exceeded by only a handful of pitchers this season. But among the 190 relievers with 20+ IP in 2026, his ERA is very much middle of the pack, at #91. His xERA (using exit velocity, launch angle, and sprint speed to model what a player’s ERA “should” be) isn’t bad, coming in 26th at 2.63. But his FIP (Fielding Independent ERA) of 3.88 is 111th and his xFIP of 4.26 is 129th. The main reason for concern is, far more balls in play are becoming outs than you’d expect. His BABIP is .148 – about half league average, and the third lowest of those 190 pitchers.
It does help that he’s not allowing a lot of line drives, which tend to be the engine room which powers BABIP. At 12.3%, Sewald owns the 15th-lowest rate. In addition to doing a good job of limiting hard contact and barrels, he has been successful in getting pitchers to chase, particularly with his sweeper to right-handers. They are 6-for-39 with 12 strikeouts and a feeble .457 OPS against Paul. Considering his low cost – just $1.5 million for the year – he has been a bargain, and has likely already been worth more than that. You just have to look at struggles around the league of far more high-priced closers, to understand why I doubt we’ll see changes in Arizona anytime soon.
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