Mets drafted Las Vegas native Paul Sewald in 2012 from the University of San Diego. Paul’s childhood friend Kris Bryant was a teammate at San Diego for two years.
Sewald was a starter his senior year at San Diego, but the the Mets put him in the bullpen immediately and he dominated the minor leagues.
First, he posted a 1.88 ERA and struck out 35 batters in 28 2/3 innings for the short season Brooklyn Cyclones in 2012. He was even better the next season, lowered his ERA to 1.77 in 56 innings for the Class-A Savannah Sand Gnats.
The Sand Gnats won the league title with a roster that included future big leaguers INF Dilson Herrera, INF Phillip Evans, LHP Steven Matz, RHP Luis Cessa, RHP Gabriel Ynoa, OF Brandon Nimmo, C Kevin Plawecki, RHP Matt Koch, RHP Robert Gsellman, RHP Tim Peterson, and RHP Seth Lugo. Mets rookie manager Luis Rojas was the Gnats’ manager during their championship season as well.
The next season was more of the same for Sewald, between Advanced-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton, he sported a 1.92 ERA and struck out a combined 69 batters in 56 1/3 innings. He pitched the entire 2015 season with Binghamton earning himself a spot on the All-Star roster with a 1.75 ERA and 24 saves.
One last minor league stop for Sewald before the big leagues was the offensive haven of Las Vegas in 2016. The right-hander continued his strong minor league career with a 3.29 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 65 innings.
Sewald made his big league debut in April of 2017. He was sent down after two appearances and called back up in May, that’s when he had the best stretch of his major league career, allowing only three runs in 19 innings. Paul quickly became a favorite of Mets’ manager Terry Collins and led the team with 65 1/3 relief innings.
The former 10th round pick made the Mets 2018 Opening Day roster, and rewarded the team for that decision with a 1.98 ERA in April. However, the rest of the season was a struggled that included two demotions to Triple-A.
Sewald struggled to stay in the majors during the 2019 season, though he pitched fairly well when he did. He had a 4.58 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, but struck out 22, had a 3.57 FIP, and a strong 1.07 WHIP.
As 2020 Spring Training opened, Sewald was seen as a longshot to make the Opening Day pen, though he’s still on the 40-man roster so his likelihood of seeing time in the big leagues was strong.
Sewald is mostly a fastball-slider pitcher that rarely throws a changeup (only 3.6% of the time in 2019).
One key note going forward for Sewald was the uptick in velocity to finish out the 2019 season. His four-seamer averaged 92.3 MPH in August and September, a career-high. His previous high was 92.1 in August of 2017, when he held hitters to a .156 average.
I had the chance to talk to Paul earlier this week on a variety of different topics including pitching notes from Greg Maddux.
MMO – Where are you and what are you doing during the break from baseball? Are you throwing at all and are you doing anything to supplement your baseball income?
Paul Sewald – I’m at home in Las Vegas and mostly all I’m doing is trying to social distance and quarantine like we’re all supposed to be doing. I am throwing every day and throwing bullpens twice a week right now staying in as good of shape as I can. I’m very lucky that I am in a position that I don’t necessarily have to supplement my baseball income for the time being.
MMO – Are you keeping in touch with the Mets coaching staff? How has Jeremy Hefner helped you since coming aboard?
Sewald – We’re constantly keeping in touch with the pitching coaches because they want to make sure we’re as close to ready as possible if/when we’re brought back to St Lucie so mostly everyday. You know, during spring it’s really hard to get a ton of 1-1 time so it’s been limited a bit, but we have worked on a couple of ideas to help my Vertical Ride which is so important. And mostly just constructive criticism and ideas to think about after every outing during spring but it’s been great so far!
MMO – How was the vertical ride brought about? Has there been more a push with analytics/high-tech cameras this spring?
Sewald – We were just watching some video of an outing and looking at the numbers associated with each pitch, and the best pitches had the best ride so he made it a priority for me to focus on. I think all of baseball is having more of a push of analytics/technology and the Mets are right there.
MMO – You’ve been a guy that has experienced lots of call ups and being sent back to the minors, how do you deal with the uncertainty mentally and how do you think that will help you in the future?
Sewald – I think it’s just part of the system. It’s very difficult to establish yourself immediately so the options are what they are. I think I have done a good job of making the most of my call ups and shown them that I can be a Major League pitcher, and I just simply have to continue to do that the rest of my career just like lots of guys have to do.
MMO – What do you believe you need to work on to make sure you stick as a major league pitcher?
Sewald – I think I just need to be more consistent with all 3 pitches. I have had plenty of success in the big leagues; I’ve just had too many failures. And you’re going to have some bad days, but if I can limit those bad days and turn it into more good days I think im more than good enough to be a bullpen staple.
MMO – What type of hitter would you rather avoid, Jeff McNeil or Pete Alonso?
Sewald – Oh man! Can I say neither of those guys? Haha if I HAD to choose I would say Jeff. Most of baseball today is an all or nothing ply for the homer kind of hitter and Jeff is so different from that so that’s what makes him so good and so hard to get out. But believe me I want no part of Pete!
MMO – What was it like for you to finally get your first big league win last year?
Sewald – It was more of a relief just to stop hearing about “0 and whatever” than anything. Wins are such an irrelevant stat especially for relief pitchers, but it is a lot better being 1-14 than 0 for.
MMO – Both your dad and brother were drafted, how did being around them help you when you were younger?
Sewald – It always helped a ton having a dad who was not only extremely dedicated and encouraging but also the best coach I had growing up.
MMO – Speaking of coaches, do you have more confidence in your changeup after Greg Maddux told you it was a good pitch? Were you becoming more of a two-pitch guy after the Mets put you in the bullpen full-time?
Sewald – Yeah I think anyone would have a little extra confidence if they had somebody like Greg compliment a pitch. It really opened my eyes to it. The changeup will always be my 3rd pitch, but I have seen the more I use it the better I do. So I really just need to keep that confidence as much as I can during the season. As a bullpen guy, I may only face 1-3 batters and especially against righties being a righty specialist of sorts so I think it just became the fact that I havent faced as many lefties so my changeup hasn’t been used as much.
MMO – What do you normally do in terms of prepping for a series/game ahead of time or game day?
Sewald – Well I watch a lot of video of myself against the opposing team to see pitch sequencing and how it was positive or negative to create a game plan as well as using my personal scouting report heat maps against each hitter to figure out a plan of attack. Relievers typically throw flat grounds almost everyday for 10 or so pitches to make sure everything is crisp on an every day basis.
MMO – Why did you choose to play in the Mexican Winter League and how was it different that playing in the states?
Sewald – Well I chose the Mexican Winter League simply because Hermosillo was the only team who wanted me haha, I had such a great experience playing there. The crowds and atmosphere are so intense and differentiating from the minor leagues in that every single game is played like the World Series which I hadn’t experienced since I had been drafted and I enjoyed that aspect.
MMO – How did it feel to face Kris Bryant in the big leagues? Do you guys still talk in the offseason?
Sewald – It’s always a little weird to face Kris. Yeah we talk pretty frequently in the offseason and we’ve just known each other forever that it’s crazy to face each other at the highest level. Not sure we knew that would happen back in 1997 when we first started playing little league haha.
MMO – What were your thoughts when Luis Rojas was hired?
Sewald – I was very excited when Luis was hired. I’ve only played for him one year and we won the Sally League Championship so I think maybe we’re on to something together!
MMO – Thanks Paul. Good luck if/when the season starts and hope you and your family stay safe through these wild times.
Sewald – Thank you very much. Stay safe and healthy yourself.
