Paul Sewald Blows Another Save. Time to Look at Other Closing Options?

what are we discussing on today's locked on dimeback podcast is it time for the Dbacks to start think about other closing [Music] options you are a locked on Diamondbacks your daily Arizona Diamondbacks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome into the locked on Dbacks podcast probably the lockdown podcast Network your team every day listening to who the always charismatic host of this podcast Miller Thomas a multimedia journalist and a graphic designer so please go check out my website Miller Thomas 24. portfolio.com on there you can see all my latest work from my packages to articles to my photos and my graphic design if you want to see more content by me please follow me on Twitter at Creer thomas4 for my personal account or look up lock down Dbacks on both Twitter and Instagram for the podcast handle and please follow the personal insta Miller Thomas 123 always at a dback scheme so follow me on there as well today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer fanduels hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started on today's locked on Dbacks podcast we'll talk about Paul sewald blowing another dback game is it time for a new closer and we'll discuss the pitching duel in game number two thank you for making lock down Dbacks your first listen every day I would not be able to do this podcast without you my loyal listeners sharing subscribing reviewing doing all that so I could do this podcast for you thank you it's free it's available on all platforms so please continue to tell your friends one of those platforms is YouTube so please hit subscribe to locked on Diamondback on YouTube all right all right all right let's get back into the lock on Dbacks podcast let's talk about that game one loss to the Atlanta Braves because that game was lost because of sea Wald sucking once again and it's sad to say because I love Paul sea Wald I'm a sewald guy but right now he's in a funk and with his last three blown saves you can make a real argument that the dback should be on the nine game winning streak they won the last two games against Oakland they blew game one against the Dodgers after making a very nice comeback a lead in the ninth seaal blows that you win the next two then you blow game one to the Padres courtesy of Paul sewald before winning the next two now this series against the Braves you haven't been in Atlanta all year great opportunity to finally get a win against one of the best teams of the National League you're looking good after six you're entering the ninth with the lead and once again Hall SE Wald blows the game for the Dbacks and these are huge games this is NL West Division leader LA Dodgers this is wild card team right ahead of you in the standing San Diego Padres also in the NL and then best team arguably in the National League maybe on paper maybe not by record in the Atlanta Braves three straight crushing blows for Paul seaw Wald and in two of the three opportunities he had two outs that's what makes it so much more frustrating he was one out way from converting the save and getting the Dbacks a win even if he converted one of those three opportunities do would feel a lot better about Paul sea Wald than you do right now but instead seaw Wald three straight blown saves and now it got you questioning whether or not seaal should be the closer going forward and can even make the argument the Dbacks against Atlanta specifically should have won all four games against Atlanta this year because you go back and look at every single game against the Braves this season the Dbacks have led against the Braves after six innings in every single game the Dbacks jump out early against the Braves and then the Braves always come back in the last three Innings with an offensive attack and I thought maybe it'd be different this time around because I think our Bullpen a lot better than when we first faced Atlanta we didn't even have Paul seaal I think when we first faced Atlanta now we do and everyone in the bullpen did their job except for Paul sea Wald which is just so frustrating the Dbacks lineup has been playing so much better recently right we've talked about how the guys who have been struggling all year finally starting to come around we saw some signs of life from Corbin Carol in that game one Yano Suarez over the last couple weeks has been a lot better Moreno coming off the injured list has been a lot better like guriel and June crushed it like the players in the lineup have been playing a lot better over the last few weeks a lot of the relievers have been better right Bryce jvis has been better in June we love Justin Martinez we love love Ryan Thompson GLE has turned around this season like we're starting to trust some of the Believers in the bullpen we got a great start recently from Ryan Nelson like The Vibes have been up for the Dbacks the last couple weeks it feels like last year's team is finally starting to come alive and come out the Woodworks it feels like they've been in like hiding in hibernation the last few months you know dealing with that World Series hangover we see the Texas Rangers dealing with it it felt like the Dbacks were dealing with it for most of the season but felt like something clicked in June felt like something over the last three or four weeks something clicked where the Dbacks are finally starting to look like last year's team we're seeing more clutch offense late in these games like we saw it against the Braves most recently in game one saw against the Padre's we saw against the Dodgers like the Dbacks are finally starting to score late right the answer backs are finally able to score late they're finally creating Chaos on the bases again stealing extra bases uh moving Runners over doing a little small small ball like the small ball for the Dbacks over the last three weeks feels like it's back in a big way we're doing everything that made us a good team last year except for the fact that we now have a closer struggling once again that has been the cryptonite of this Dbacks team since I've taken over the podcast in 2020 I think closing games has been the biggest issue for the Dbacks during what my last four years of this podcast and it was the one area that probably wasn't worried about like second base with kentel Marte first base with Christian Walker closed over with Paul sea wal like those were some of the pillars that I was not worried about at all coming into this year sea Wald was so good last year he was Nails in the postseason until he got to the World Series of course and for most of this season he was nails too until July flipped sea Wald was 11 for1 with like a054 er it's hard to believe because seaal all of a sudden after after his most recent blowup outing 393 eay you know on the cups of a four but prior to his last three blown saves sewald had a054 eay that tells you how bad he's been in his last three blown saves all against quality opponents it does make you worried because sea Wald we know in the past we've seen it against teams he's familiar with he does face adversity and now the Dbacks have to question whether he should be the closer going forward and I want to dive into that question more in segment number two but I thought sewald was the best deback closer of maybe the last 10 years like I was literally telling someone that as he entered a save opportunity against the Dodgers last week I was literally gushing to a homie at a sports bar is sewald the best closer we've ever seen in our Dbacks lives is he the best closer in Dbacks franchise history of the last 10 years like sea Wald should potentially be an allar like I was gushing about SE wal then he does that against the Dodgers and now the last three blown saves uh has people feeling a certain way about Paul sewald and this was a series going against the Braves or excuse me this was a series going against the Braves where you really had an opportunity I thought the Braves were looking vulnerable but now it's Paul sewald who's looking vulnerable and I just don't know if I can trust him and we're going to talk about more about Paul sewald in segment number two but I don't want to end in segment number one without talking about Diaz who made his debut for the Dbacks he looked absolutely phenomenal face adversity gave up that first inning home run battled back in a big way had an opportunity with like what two Runners on nobody out skated out of that skated out of more trouble late in that game like this is a guy who they said he was a vendor before signing his professional contract like he was selling ice cream in stadiums just looking for his opportunity signed with the Dbacks a few years ago now he's in his early 20s for row 98 got some real Heat this could be a guy for the Dbacks I thought Mana could be a guy for the Dbacks this could actually be a real dude I I still like main a lot but Diaz came in immediately against one of the best teams in the NL and looked great against them he looked like a season veteran yes he had some things that he needs to work out but for the most part he had good command he had good velocity good break on his pitches I thought Diaz was really good and I'm very curious to see how he looks going forward and curious to see how much more opportunity the Dbacks give him this season you got a clutch coron Carroll hit in game number one don't want to overlook that Carol has been in a slump all season and anytime he gets clutch hits i' love to see that love to see the small ball work in Extra Innings great job by Domo and uh I forgot who scored Domo in Extra Innings off top of my head uh who was it Pomo hit the sacrifice fly with Jake McCarthy scored great job by doing small ball and sure as GLE and Thompson did their job everyone did their job in game number one except Paul seaal which is frustrating that's why we'll talk about Dbacks closing options in segment number two but hey check out the number one daily fantasy sports app called prize picks because with over 5 million active members it is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports unlike other apps on prize picks it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six player stats projections and watch the winnings roll in get in on the daily actions where your friends and become part of the prize picks Community today you can now win up to a 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks you can turn $10 into $1,000 prize picks is available in more than 30 States across the country including California Texas and Georgia download the prize picks app today and use code locked on MLB for first deposit match up to $100 that's code locked on MLB on prize picks for deposit match up 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summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball all right all right all right let's get back into the lock on Dbacks podcast and quick FYI I am back on the East Coast for potentially the rest of July I don't think y'all be going to any dbat games unless they're coming out to the East Coast uh I do think they go to Boston potentially next month I would have to check the schedule to see if the Dbacks are coming over to the east coast anytime soon but going forward the new schedule for podcast will probably be morning drops I don't think you'll be as late as I'm doing today I got in last night at like 2 am so I slept in a little bit today uh but going forward I think you'll probably get podcasts around 8 900 a.m. in the morning potentially earlier so be on the lookout not too many more nighttime drops probably early morning drops going forward while on the East Coast just so you guys could plan accordingly but now let's get into the podcast and let's talk about whether or not Paul sea Wald needs a rooll change uh to lell has already come out and said seaw Wald is still going to be our closure going forward and I don't think that I don't think that's a big surprise I mean sewald has been really good for most of the Season he was really good last year I don't think it's a surprised that toy lello wants to continue to keep confidence in Paul sea Wald and wants to build him up and you know say the right thing from the media they still are closer but we also know Tory lello is a guy that sometimes gets overly committed to his players you don't need to keep playing Jayce Peterson I like paven Smith this year but paven Smith the last couple years way too many at bats and played appearances like Tor lello is a players guy and at times it's an issue because he will play a guy who sucks for way too long sea wal currently is in a slump I don't think he sucks but I do think sea Wald needs a role change right now the Dbacks are just a few games out from the All-Star break I don't think it's time to start messing with you know potential wins like the Dbacks are desperate they need to keep Pace in the wild card they still need a playoff spot a wild card spot they don't have either and so I don't think you can just fumble these wins away I think it's to too big these games uh I think these games are way too big you can't just keep fumbling them away I love Paul sewald I think Paul sewald at the end of the season will be the dback closer but right now in the short term at least until the All-Star break maybe the rest of July I do think there should be a role change for Paul seaal now might not come unless he blows his fourth fifth save but I'm saying right now to lello needs to pull the plug shortterm on Paul sea Wald we just can't trust him right now after three blown saves in very important games the Dbacks need to go with guys who are just more trustworthy right now and for once the Dbacks actually have too many solid options currently where you can't just keep running out Paul sea Walt there are actually other options that are competent for once in Dbacks franchise history over the last few years all the options for Dbacks closer were horrendous but for once the Dbacks actually have solid options on who should be their closer that's why I don't think you should keep running Paul seaal out there at the end of the day I think sea Wald will be the closer by The Season's end but right now I think Paul sea Wald needs to get that Kevin GLE treatment GLE started the season as the Dbacks closer with sewald on the mound but GLE was not very good as the Dbacks closer he struggled mightily so the Dbacks what did they do they demoted him from that closer R they started using him in more of the middle Innings fifth sixth seventh to build up that confidence and now when you watch Paul now when you watch Kevin GLE pitch he looks like the guy that pitched last year for the Dbacks that was confident I was throwing 9798 with that fast ball and shutting down opposing hitters like gingo was electric last year and to start the season you looked mortal this year he looked very unconfident and not sure of himself but he looks back to being an elite reliever and I do think there is something with Paul sewald where opponents who see him a lot do get familiar with his stuff and I think sewald in those moments become a little bit more vulnerable against the NLS teams and teams that have seen him a little bit more I still think Paul seaal can be great I mean he was Nails 95% of the time last postseason until game one of the World Series he was Nails 95% of this season so I still think Paul seaal even though opponents might be familiar with his stuff you know what's coming I still think he can make it work and still be great in big games he has a lot of Moxy too so I think from a intangible perspective I still trust Paul sewalt as a closer just not right now it wasn't that long ago Paul sewald had a one had a one run save against the Philadelphia Phillies when they were rolling that was like a couple weeks ago so it wasn't that long ago we've seen Paul sewald be clutch in very big games against some of the best teams and I want Paul SE wall to get back to form but right now he needs to take a little break that's why there are three candidates at the dback should consider I know Tory lll wants to keep with Paul seald for now but another blown save he really has to consider his other options which are Kevin gingle Ryan Thompson and Justin Martinez Martinez I think has the nastiest stuff and probably the best repertoire to be repertoire I'm hope I'm saying that correctly to be a closer but I also think Martinez is also the most erratic he is the guy that would walk the most people so even though I think Martinez is the closer of the future post Paul sea Wald I'm not ready to hand him the keys just yet GLE was the closer for the beginning of the season but I don't like GLE as a closer Ginko is at his best in non-save situations if you just look at the numbers this year over a five ER in 14 Innings pitch of situations but non-save situations he has a one ER GLE is Elite as a setup man or a high leverage reliever but as a closer I don't like Kevin GLE that's why my pick is Ryan Thompson all three of these relievers are very good in high leverage moments good with runners in scoring position but Ryan Thompson has a slightly better ER this season in save situations as opposed to non save situations and he's got a funk delivery to keep hitters off balance I go GLE in the eighth Thompson in the ninth and then you go with Paul seaal in that six seven range obviously Martinez is still a backend High levage reliever for you but put sewald in more of those middle Innings until he gets back to form I still love seaw Wald but Dbacks are too desperate right now to give away games and for once the Dbacks have too many options that can actually do the closer job so for now I think P I think PC Wald need to get a little demotion in his role now we'll talk about the amazing pitching duel that we'll see in segment number two hey if you need any help filing your taxes this season I suggest tax Network USA here on lock. 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into the lockdown Dbacks podcast let's do a little preview of game number two against Atlanta Braves because we got ourselves a legit pitching duel in game two Zack Gallen versus Chris S and really fun to see because these are two of the better pitchers in the National League and for Chris S it's honestly a little surprising I kind of rode off Chris S after the last few years I still thought like he had more left in his tank than what we've seen the last few years but I thought the days of Chris Sale being like a number one starter for you were done I thought Chris Sale could still be a valuable you know backend uh you know still be a valuable rotation playoff starter maybe a number three number number four in your rotation for the playoffs probably not going to give you 200 Innings just load manage him until you get to the postseason and then from there you feel like he can dominate but s this season has been way better than that he's almost at a 100 Innings pitch already this season he's at 99.2 uh the last time I mean in 2019 he made 147 Innings pitch like that was the last time he made over 10 105 Innings pitch was 2019 know with 147 like Chris L will probably Crush that number like the last few years he just has barely pitched 2020 didn't pitch at all with Co 2021 42 Innings 2022 five innings 2023 102 Innings like Chris sa will probably hit his highest inning pitch total maybe since 2019 maybe since 2018 maybe since 2017 like Chris saes having himself a fantastic season and personally I do love a Chris Sale you know as I said I grew up as a Red Sox fan I'm the East Coast so I have a lot of love for Chris S back where he did with the Red Sox in 20 2018 and everything like that but I thought since then I thought chrisell probably was a little bit cooked I mean he's dealt with a lot of injuries over the last few years I still thought he could be a good playoff pitcher but being a Frontline starter like a Zach Allen or Merill Kelly that you trust in game one game too I didn't think Chris S had that left in his tank but I was completely wrong he's back to being healthy he's pitching every game and he looks dominant once again this looks like 2018 Chris S we finish fourth in si young voting like Chris H right now leads the national league in wins with 11 has the best FIP has the best whip has the best strikeouts per walk like Chris S has been dominant this year and actually if you look at FanDuel he is right behind Zack Wheeler in terms of Sai Young odds so this is a pretty fun pitching duel I believe in game number two gallon versus Chris S and for the Dbacks offense I love seeing them punch the Braves in the mouth early and I want to see them do that once again against Chris H against one of the best pitchers in the national league right now go create offense in chaos early the Dbacks love doing that they're a great first inning team they're great in the first couple Innings let's see you do it one more time against chrisel who also when you look at the numbers that first inning is probably the biggest struggle for Chris Sale he has the highest OPS allowed in the first inning 815 Ops he's allowed the most home runs on the season in the first inning so if you are going to jump on Chris H do it early the best first inning team in baseball going against a pitcher where he struggles the most in the first inning go out there and punch Chris Sale in the mouth early and now also now that the Dbacks we know that they can score runs early I also trust the dback to score runs late we know the Braves are going to have a late offensive attack like that's there's no doubt about that but I also believe the Dbacks offense can do enough to score late and keep up with the Braves offense the biggest question for the Dbacks is will the will their boen step up late in the game to slow down the Braves offensive attack Rand gritch he's had great success against s in his career with love to see him in the finale I expect him to be in the lineup against a lefty chis uh against Lefty chessel R grarate I expect him to be in the lineup will the Dbacks go away from sewald if it came to it if there's another closing situation maybe just because I don't know if you want to go backto back games with Paul sewald in a safe situation but to lell has said sewald is still the closer for the Dbacks going forward so potentially if there is a safe situation the Dbacks do go back back to sea wall tonight but against the Padres he blew game one and then game number two in Extra Innings toy lell did everything to not go to sewal he went to Alberto casianos to close out the game and that's what casianos did so with toy lell using all his best relievers in game number one Geno Thompson Martinez sewald I wonder what that means in game number two definitely it means we need length from gallon if gallon could go six Innings maybe do like a Bryce Jarvis in the seventh Maybe or like a Vieira in the seventh Jarvis in the eighth and maybe go with one of your better relievers to close it out in the ninth maybe go back to Paul sewald maybe go GLE or Thompson we'll see uh what the Dbacks want to do with that but with f banged up and Monty on the iil like this is kind of a huge start for gallon with the game one Bown loss already Dbacks could really use a big bounceback game from their best starting pitcher in a Zach gallon and so uh you can only pray Zack Allen who struggled I wouldn't say struggled in his most recent outing he was fine but it wasn't Elite Zack Allen he had long pitch counts he struggled to put guys away want to see a better version of Zack Gallen in this game against Atlanta Braves he still has potential to play in the All-Star game if he goes on a little dominant run uh you know if he gets another start if he looks good against the Braves and then I would he potentially have I think he potentially would have one more star against Toronto so if he finishes the season or the first half of the season with two more quality starts there's still potential for Zack gallon to go to the All-Star Game depending on injuries and against the Braves in his career gallon has been good 245 ER and 25 Innings pitch against the Braves over four starts would love to see that continue the biggest issue for Gallen albz and Riley two biggest Zack Allen Killers so just limit those two and you should be okay will we see Domo in the lineup against the lefty or will it be Kevin Newman and Yano Suarez on the left side of the infield want to see what Tory LEL does with that will we see Jake McCarthy in the lineup with the you know with there being a lefty on the mound do we go McCarthy over Thomas in the lineup very curious to see what Tory lell does with that Dbacks though need a big bounce back they've lost the last three game ones in their last three series they've lost the first game of the series then they won the next two so want to see the Dbacks keep that Trend going with a big zacko performance in game number two against the Atlanta Braves now that's it for this edition of the lock down Dbacks podcast come back tomorrow for more Dbacks news coverage and insight and as always stay safe stay healthy no s