All it took for Paul Sewald to go from middling Mets reliever to lock-down World Series closer was a little high heat, minus the heat.
Three years after being non-tendered by the Mets, Sewald has emerged as one of the keys to the Diamondbacks making their run to the World Series — both feats surprising in their own right.
“Man, doing a 180, I’ve changed everything about myself from when I was in New York,” Sewald said Thursday on the eve of the World Series against the Rangers at Globe Life Field. “It’s worked out a lot better than it did in New York. I obviously wish I had pitched better there, but I got some advice that really turned my career around and just changing everything about my pitch shapes has probably been the key to being who I am.
“He used to kill us when he was in Seattle and I was in Houston,” Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom said. “Guys would come back to the bench and say, ‘S–t, I can’t hit it. It’s on me.’ I’d look and say, ‘It’s only 91.’ That’s when you realize.” Hefner noted “there was an opportunity” for Sewald to throw his fastball up in the zone, but did not made it a point of emphasis. Three years later, of course, hindsight is 20-20.
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