Is Paul Sewald on the closer hot seat for the Diamondbacks?

Has the time come for the Arizona Diamondbacks to change how they handle the ninth inning after Paul Sewald’s latest blown save?

On Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, Sewald allowed back-to-back home runs to blow a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, his second blown save in his last three tries. His ERA rose to 5.26.

Now, Sewald has been a great story for the Diamondbacks this season.

He has filled in a role left vacant by Justin Martinez’s and A.J. Puk’s injuries to inarguable success for most of the year.

Despite his issues in non-save situations, Sewald started the year 23-for-24 in saves and Tuesday was only the third chance he blew. He is tied for sixth in MLB in saves, and there are multiple All-Star closers with more blown saves, such St. Louis’ Riley O’Brien and Cleveland’s Cade Smith.

But Sewald’s boat has been leaking for a while.

The 36-year-old has allowed 12 earned runs over his last 9.1 innings with six home runs, and his ERA since June 15 is 10.32.

On Tuesday, he entered a 6-3 game and gave up the lead quickly. It took eight pitches for Jake Mangum to double and Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds to hit moonshots out to right field. Lowe hit a hanging sweeper and Reynolds and fastball on the inner half of the plate.

“To get to where we’re going, we need him to go out there and get those big outs,” manager Torey Lovullo told Diamondbacks broadcaster Todd Walsh after Tuesday’s game. “And we’ll count on him. He’s gonna get the baseball and continue to get those types of outs for us. … I haven’t thought anything about tomorrow. I gotta get through right now. But if there is something that’ll happen, I’ll make sure that I talk to the right people first.”

There is great urgency for the Diamondbacks. They are holding onto a one-game lead for the third National League Wild Card position with two months remaining. They have not made the playoffs since the 2023 World Series.

If Sewald receives more chances to close games, he is going to have to find answers right away, because the situation has reached a point where all options need to be on the table.

Sewald hit a comparable wall in 2024 and lost his closer’s role at the end of July. That season was a bit different. Sewald was the bona fide closer who was injured for the first five weeks, produced great results in May and June and fell off a table in July.

The Diamondbacks did not enter this season expecting Sewald to be the closer all year. They bought low on him, signing the veteran to a one-year, $1.5 million contract in spring training.

Puk and Martinez were expected to return at some point, and Sewald said multiple times in spring that he may save games, but Arizona’s closers were on the IL.

Puk suffered a setback — a capsule sprain in his throwing shoulder — that may have cost him his season. Martinez is facing live hitters, inching closer to getting back on the mound after more than a year away from it.

In their stead, Sewald performed better than anyone could have hoped with a 3.08 ERA on June 14.

The questions now are how long of a leash are the Diamondbacks willing to give him, especially after seeing him collapse in the past, and what are their alternative options until Martinez is ready for the responsibility again?

The trade deadline is on Monday, although the Diamondbacks have multiple needs while creeping closer to luxury tax penalties they want to avoid. Adding a hitter and a starting pitcher would be beneficial, but bullpen help is always attractive. These struggles from Sewald may heighten that need.

The Diamondbacks could try going closer by matchups, a familiar strategy. The bullpen has been a strength for most of the season, although it has been taxed lately.

Brandyn Garcia, Juan Morillo, Taylor Clarke and Jonathan Loaisiga each have sub-3.00 ERAs, while Kevin Ginkel is having a solid campaign with high leverage experience.

Garcia faced one batter on Tuesday and struck him out to escape the eighth inning after Ryan Thompson gave up three runs (and forced Sewald into the game, in the first place). Perhaps in a closer-by-committee setup, Garcia would have faced Pittsburgh’s lefties in the ninth inning and gone for the save himself.

The Diamondbacks ended up winning Tuesday’s game in 12 innings to save themselves from an embarrassing collapse.

Sewald this season has hardly walked anyone and struck out his highest percentage of hitters since 2023, despite his lower-90s mph fastball. But the long balls have been piling up to a concerning level.

If the season ended today, Sewald would be the first Diamondbacks pitcher in club history with at least 20 saves and an ERA over 5.00 (5.26).

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