Blue Jays take low-risk swing on former Diamondbacks reliever to stabilize battered bullpen

The Toronto Blue Jays are adding a veteran reliever to their bullpen as their relief corps is in immediate need of relief. The Blue Jays have claimed Paul Sewald off waivers. The former Arizona Diamondbacks reliever was designated for assignment earlier this week after appearing in 45 games with the NL West club this season.

Sewald had a good start to the season, but since the end of June he hit a rough patch and his numbers ballooned. He posted a 6.23 ERA and 5.67 FIP across 39 innings with Arizona, getting 24 saves in the process. He posted decent strikeout numbers, with a 10.15 K/9 rate, and barely walked anyone, with a 5.5% walk percentage which ranks in the 92nd percentile. However, Sewald was giving up a lot of hard contact (42.6%, ranking in the 20th percentile) and he was only generating ground balls at a rate of 18.5% (ranked in the first percentile).

The Blue Jays will hope to get Sewald back to being the player he was before he was hampered by injuries in 2024 and 2025. Prior to that Sewald had a really good run between 2021 and 2023 when he pitched in 192 games for Seattle and Arizona and accumulated a 4.3 bWAR by posting a 2.92 ERA, with 65 saves. He struck out 256 batters in 189.1 innings pitched over that span. That was the fifth most strikeouts by a reliever in MLB, behind Devin Williams (270), Josh Hader (268), Craig Kimbrel (266), and Tanner Scott (264).

Even if he isn't a long-term solution the Blue Jays can certainly use the help right now. Since the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Blue Jays bullpen has pitched 43.1 innings, the most in MLB. That includes covering four games that have gone into extra innings in that time, with no days off.

The Blue Jays won 5-4 in ten innings against the Astros in Houston on Aug. 5. They lost the very next day, 3-2 in 11 innings in Chicago against the Cubs. Two days later they beat the Phillies 7-5 in 11 innings in Philadelphia only to fall to the same team in 12 innings the next day in a 7-6 loss.

Blue Jays have had to get creative with their bullpen, and that meant a career first for Spencer Miles

Normally, in a close game in the ninth inning, the Blue Jays would be turning to their All-Star closer in Louis Varland. But he wasn't available to pitch on Tuesday, and with the Blue Jays ahead 5-3 over the Boston Red Sox going into the top of the ninth, the Jays turned to surprising rookie Spencer Miles.

Miles has done everything the Blue Jays have asked of him and more this season. Plucked out of the Rule 5 draft from the San Francisco Giants, Miles has pitched in low-leverage and high-leverage. He has started games, and has been asked to come into relief. But Tuesday marked his first chance at saving a major league game.

Miles passed the test with flying colours. He got Nick Sogard to ground out to lead off the inning. He allowed a double to Masataka Yoshida, but then induced back-to-back groundouts of Ceddanne Rafaela and, noted Blue Jays killer, Adley Rutschman to end the game.

As long as the Blue Jays keep playing in close games down the stretch they are going to need to have guys step up and accept the challenges head on and Miles was the proof of concept on Tuesday night. We'll see if Sewald can provide some veteran leadership and wisdom as he joins a team that's still fighting for their playoff lives, even as the odds are dwindling.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow