Paul Sewald Disappointed and Frustrated Over Oblique Injury

The Diamondbacks closer will hit the injured list for the first time in his career with a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique.

Yesterday, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo updated the media that closer Paul Sewald
has a Grade 2 strain of his left oblique and will begin the season on the injured list. Lovullo said
he’ll be out for weeks, not days.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Sewald said he felt some soreness in the area following his appearance against the Oakland Athleticson March 18th. He discussed it with the training staff, which resulted in him getting pulled from his scheduled appearance Wednesday as a precaution. After not feeling any soreness through the off day, Sewald pitched again on Saturday vs. Cleveland. He did not feel good the next day and realized it was something to be concerned about. An MRI revealed a “Low Grade 2” oblique strain.

“Disappointing, frustration, this is the first time in my career I’ve been on the IL, so it’s really
disappointing,” said Sewald. “To miss so many days is going to be disappointing, but it’s better
than maybe the middle of the season or September.”

The D-backs will have to weather the storm while their closer is out. The typical recovery time
for a Grade 2 oblique strain is 6-8 weeks, although the process to ramp up a one-inning reliever
will be quicker than a starting pitcher. That puts a hypothetical timetable to return around mid-to-
late May. The first step however is making sure he’s asymptomatic and doesn’t try to rush back
and suffer either a re-injury to the oblique or develop a more severe injury in compensation.

One obvious candidate to replace Sewald is right-hander Kevin Ginkel. Ginkel is coming off a
season in which he pitched to a 2.48 ERA in 65 ⅓ innings, then fired 11 ⅔ scoreless in the
postseason. Sewald has the utmost confidence in his teammate’s ability to step up and handle
his role. "He is the best" Sewald said. "If he’s going to be the one piece in the 9th inning, I have absolutely no issues that the team is going to finish the game with a win.”

Ginkel won’t be the only reliever who will need to step up, but securing the 9th inning is the top
priority then working back each inning at a time. Veterans Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson, and
Scott McGough will need to provide some quality innings to form the bridge to the back of the
bullpen.