Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

What if Paul Sewald did not encounter the worst month of his career?

Originally posted on Burn City Sports | By Jacob Hardin | Last updated Jul 29, 2024 4:03 PM ET

Over the last few months, Paul Sewald has gone from one of the most dominant stretches of his career, where he tossed 15.2 consecutive scoreless innings, to one of, if not, the worst stretches of his career.

Since the start of July, Sewald has blown four saves, cumulating for 17 hits and 10 earned runs allowed across 9.2 innings on the mound.

In their last 25 games, the Diamondbacks have held a 16-9 record. Which is still good, but not as good as it should be. The D-backs have held leads into the 8th inning during six of their nine losses. Sewald has blown four of those games.

The Diamondbacks are 16-9 in their past 25 games.

In 6 of those 9 losses, they had a lead in the eighth inning or later.

— Jesse Friedman (@JesseNFriedman) July 28, 2024

So, if it were not for Paul Sewald’s struggles, the Diamondbacks would have an additional win over the Dodgers, Braves, Padres, and Pirates. All four of those teams are in or within reach of a postseason spot.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks are .5 games back from a Wild Card spot. If four of those Sewald blown saves were reversed, the D-backs would not only hold the top spot in that National League Wild Card race, but they would also only be two games back from the Dodgers in the NL West. This takes into consideration Sewald’s blown save against Los Angeles on July 2nd.

Going further, if the Diamondbacks were to of held on to those six games in which they held leads entering the 8th inning, then they would be a mere one game behind the Dodgers.

Of course, that is speaking in a lot of hypothetical terms. But it underlines how critical those late blown leads have been for Arizona. It also underlines how important it was for them to acquire an additional arm for their bullpen, in the form of A.J. Puk.

This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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