Diamondbacks designate Paul Sewald for assignment after recent struggles

The Arizona Diamondbacks decided to designate relief pitcher Paul Sewald for assignment after he was removed from the closer role, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro.

Sewald faced five hitters in low leverage on Aug. 1 in Cleveland, and all five Guardians recorded hits and eventually scored. That came on the heels of his blown save in Pittsburgh on July 28, when he allowed three runs and recorded one out.

The reliever threw 1.1 scoreless innings of low-leverage relief on Aug. 4 and 5 against the San Diego Padres.

His ERA was 3.18 on June 19, and it has since elevated to 6.23. He has allowed 17 earned runs and seven home runs over his last 10.2 innings of work.

The Diamondbacks pivoted to a closer-by-committee formula, and Brandyn Garcia and Kevin Ginkel have received save opportunities since.

It is an unceremonious end to Sewald’s second stint with the club.

Still, his impact on this season has been pronounced.

Even with the struggles over the past month, he is 24-for-27 in save situations, and he had one blown save until July 18. He is still tied for sixth in MLB in saves.

The veteran is the first Diamondbacks closer with 20 saves in a season since Brad Boxberger (32) in 2018, and Sewald did that before August.

Sewald signed back with the Diamondbacks during spring training to help fill a bullpen role with A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez working back from elbow surgeries, and for most of the year it was going better than expected. He allowed the other bullpen pieces to fall into place, and the unit as a whole has been a strength of the team.

Sewald has also been a positive clubhouse presence and leader, not to mention he restarted his Sewald’s Strikeouts 4 Kids initiative to benefit Child Crisis Arizona as he did in his first stint with the club. Sewald pitched in Arizona from the 2023 trade deadline through the 2024 season, helping the D-backs reach their first World Series since 2001 before falling out of favor the following July.

So while he no longer worked out as the Diamondbacks closer or a reliable reliever in a pennant chase, Sewald is part of the story of the 2026 D-backs by helping them get to this point.

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