Diamondbacks reliever to begin season on IL

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo revealed to reporters on Monday that closer Paul Sewald has a Grade 2 left oblique strain and will start the season on the injured list. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and Alex Weiner of AZ Sports relayed the news.

Lovullo didn’t provide a specific timeline for Sewald’s expected absence. All players and injuries are different, but for a frame of reference, Royce Lewis suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain last year and the Twins provided a timeline of six weeks. Lewis was on the IL from July 2 until August 15, roughly in line with that six-week estimate.

The news is not good for the Snakes, as Sewald is a key member of their bullpen. Acquired from the Mariners at the deadline last year, he saved 13 games for the Diamondbacks down the stretch while posting a 3.57 earned run average. He then added another six saves in the playoffs as the D-Backs went all the way to the World Series.

He had a surprising breakout with the Mariners in 2021 at the age of 31 and has spent the past three years as one of the better relievers in baseball. 

Since the start of 2021, he has tossed 189 1/3 innings with a 2.95 ERA. He struck out 33.9 percent of batters faced in that time while walking 8.6 percent of them. He gradually earned more save situations over that stretch, notching 11 of them in 2021, then 20 the year after and 34 last year.

Needless to say, no club wants to lose its best reliever for any amount of time, but the D-Backs will now have to proceed without Sewald until he can work his way back to the club. 

In the meantime, they will have to figure out how to close down games without him. Kevin Ginkel, Scott McGough, Miguel Castro and Ryan Thompson are some of the club’s best relievers, though no one in that group has more than 14 career saves.