The Blue Jays claimed veteran pitcher Paul Sewald off the waiver wire Wednesday.
The Toronto Blue Jays entered Wednesday in fourth place in the American League East but still within striking distance of the final wild card spot in the American League.
The Blue Jays are 2.5 games out of a playoff spot and earned a much-needed surge of momentum this week by taking the first two of a four-game series against AL East rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
To help Toronto with its surge toward a playoff spot, the Blue Jays acquired veteran right-handed reliever Paul Sewald off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. He was designated for assignment by Arizona on Monday.
It was reported in a post on "X" by SportsNet columnist Shi Davidi that Sewald will likely arrive to the team around game-time Thursday and will be active Friday.
Sewald midst of his 10th major league season and Blue Jays will hope that his veteran presence in the bullpen will help the pitching staff navigate what's been rough waters this season.
Toronto has had nine starting pitchers miss time or who are currently out with various injuries this season. The latest pitcher to suffer an ailment was right-handed veteran Jameson Taillon, who was recently placed on the shelf due to right forearm tendinitis.
The litany of injuries to the starting rotation has led to an extreme amount of stress placed on the bullpen this season, which has led to an extreme amount of turnover for the middle and lower-leverage arms on the team.
Sewald has postseason experience as a member of the Seattle Mariners and Arizona's bullpen.
In 2022, Sewald was a part of the Mariners team that broke the franchise's 21-year postseason drought. The next season with the Diamondbacks, Sewald was on the bullpen that made it all the way to the World Series before ultimately falling to the Texas Rangers.
This season with Arizona, Sewald posted a 6.23 ERA and struck out 44 batters in 39 innings pitched across 45 appearances with 24 saves in 27 opportunities. Across his entire career, the veteran reliever has a 4.30 ERA and has fanned 514 batters in 435 innings of work across 426 appearances. He has 44 holds and 110 saves in 139 opportunities in his career.
In addition to his veteran leadership, Sewald will also provide the Blue Jays another closer on days where Louis Varland is down, or provide Toronto another pivot made in high-leverage spots.
