The Diamondbacks introduced Sunday that they’ve positioned right-hander Paul Sewald on the 15-day injured checklist with discomfort in his neck, retroactive to Sept. 12. In a corresponding transfer, catcher Gabriel Moreno was activated from the 10-day injured checklist. The information comes as one thing of a shock, notably given the truth that Arizona introduced that it has designated right-hander Dylan Floro for task to make room for Blake Walston on the membership’s lively roster lower than two hours earlier than making this second collection of roster strikes.
Sewald, 34, has pitched simply as soon as since Sept. 2 and has struggled in current weeks, with a 7.71 ERA and 4.89 FIP in seven innings of labor since Aug. 19. These struggles when on the mound and his prolonged stretches with out pitching in any respect may very well be defined to an extent by the damage, but when Sewald has been damage, it’s stunning that the Diamondbacks have saved him on the roster relatively than opening a spot of their bullpen for a contemporary arm. Sewald will likely be eligible to return earlier than the tip of the common season as a result of back-dated nature of his placement on the IL, though no timetable for his return has been introduced at this level.
Acquired from the Mariners on the commerce deadline final yr, Sewald was among the many most coveted closers within the recreation on the time with a 2.88 ERA and three.34 FIP in 171 2/3 innings of labor for the Mariners since he landed with the membership previous to the 2021 season. Issues haven’t gone nicely for him since transferring to the desert, nevertheless, as he walked 12.5% of batters confronted down the stretch with Arizona final yr and has two blow-up outings within the World Sequence in opposition to the Rangers, though these tough appearances had been preceded by eight dominant outings all through the postseason previous to that. Headed into 2024, Sewald retained his position as nearer for the Diamondbacks and appeared dominant early within the yr earlier than finally dropping that distinction again in August after a brutal month of July the place he surrendered 12 runs in 10 innings of labor throughout 12 appearances.
Given Sewald’s deep struggles within the second half this yr and his obvious damage troubles, it’s not clear the place he stands within the Arizona bullpen because the membership appears to be like forward in direction of what it hopes will likely be its second consecutive playoff push. A return to kind within the postseason can be an enormous enhance for not solely the Diamondbacks but in addition Sewald’s personal fortunes, because the 34-year-old is scheduled to achieve free company this winter in a free-agent class that figures to be pretty deep by way of relievers with late-inning expertise.
In Sewald’s place, Moreno returns to the roster a bit sooner than anticipated. The teen was described earlier this weekend as “very shut” to returning alongside Lourdes Gurriel Jr. however appeared more likely to be focusing on a return to motion later this week. With the 24-year-old now seemingly able to step again into his common position behind the plate, the Diamondbacks will now get to make the most of his two-way expertise relatively than having to decide on between a powerful defender with lackluster hitting potential in Jose Herrera and a powerful bat with defensive query marks behind the plate in Adrian Del Castillo. Moreno was within the midst of a fantastic season previous to his damage, slashing .262/.344/.385 slash line with a 105 wRC+ in 314 journeys to the plate this yr.
