Paul Sewald, RHP 

Player Data: Age: 27, B/L: Right/Right

2017 Primary Stats: 0-6, 4.55 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, 0.2 bWAR, 0.6 fWAR

2018 Salary: Pre-arbitration

Grade: B-

2017 Review:

Paul Sewald was never supposed to be a factor this season. For consecutive seasons, Sewald was left unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft. Fortunately for the Mets, Sewald would go undrafted, and by ERA+, he would go on to become the Mets second best reliever this season who had at least 50 appearances.

Sewald initially got called up to the majors because he was dominating in Vegas again, and because the Mets pitching staff was being decimated by injuries. His first call-up only lasted two games. However, when he was recalled on May 2nd, he was here to stay.

That was mostly because Sewald had a terrific May pitching to a 1.42 ERA and limiting batters to a .229/.260/.300 slash line. Certainly,  Sewald made quite an impression as he would remain on the roster for the remainder of the year despite his having an uneven performance for the rest of the season.

There is certainly room to debate why Sewald had an uneven performance. There was the fact that Sewald never quite had a defined role shifting between long man, mop-up reliever, and set-up reliever. There was the uneven usage of him and also the struggles most rookies face in their first season in the majors.

It should not be discounted Sewald’s performance might have been indicative of why the Mets never sought to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. His stuff is not overpowering with him throwing his fastballs in the low 90s. Even when he is pitching well, he never truly gives the batter an uncomfortable at-bat.

Still, despite all of this there was promise for Sewald.  He had some respectable peripherals numbers including a 9.5 K/9 and a 2.9 BB/9, and he has shown the ability to pitch on consecutive days. In the end, we saw he can get batters out at the Major League level.

However, with the way he was used, we still don’t quite know what he is as a part of a Major League bullpen.

Did You Know:

Despite not being called up to the majors for good until May 2nd, Sewald led all Mets relievers in innings pitched (65.1) and strikeouts (69).  He was also second in appearances (57).  Aside from Addison Reed, Sewald led all Mets relievers with a 3.29 K/BB ratio (minimum 10 appearances).

2018 Outlook:

The Mets bullpen has to be revamped with quality relievers to be added to a fairly solid foundation of Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos, and Jerry Blevins.  This leaves roughly four spots vacant with pitchers like Hansel Robles presumably ahead of him on the depth chart. As a result, if the Mets add the arms they need this offseason, there may not be room for Sewald in the Opening Day bullpen. With that said, Sewald has done enough in his rookie year to at least have the opportunity to compete for a spot in the bullpen during Spring Training.