Morillo, Sewald, Garcia ready to lead Diamondbacks bullpen into second half

PHOENIX – Life in the bullpen is fickle. 

If you’re pitching well, nobody cares. After one bad outing, every fan knows your name and wants you on the first flight back to Triple-A. 

The Diamondbacks bullpen found this out during a rollercoaster first half of the season.

“It’s part of the game,” hard-throwing right-hander Juan Morillo said. “This game is hard like everybody knows.”

The unit had a rough start to the season, yielding a 5.03 ERA across March and April, but turned it around in May by posting a 2.18 ERA as a group. Things have swelled again in June, with the bullpen’s ERA sitting at 5.02 for the month. Approaching the midway point of the season, the team knows now is the time to turn it back around.

“We need that consistency on our work every day, to put 100% every day, and then go out there and help the team win,” Morillo said.

Morillo has seen great improvement in his second pro season, reducing his WHIP from 1.69 to 1.10 while ranking in the 97th percentile for both xERA and xBA, according to Baseball Savant. He’s one of a few pitchers the team’s been able to rely on during the difficult stretches of the season.

Another is the team’s closer, Paul Sewald, a man who defies analytics. The veteran has converted 18 saves in 19 opportunities despite a fastball that averages just 91.4 mph, well below the right-handed league average of 95.2 mph.

“Behind in the count, doesn’t matter if you’re throwing 100 (mph) or not,” Sewald said. “These guys hit 100 when it’s 2-0, 2-1 most of the time, so I am just as susceptible as anybody that throws 100.”

He’s found other ways to miss bats, and they’re working. Sewald ranks in the 100th percentile with a .156 xBA, using just a fastball and a sweeper.

“It’s all about getting ahead in the count, and trying to throw strikes, and mixing up pitches and trying to be unpredictable,” Sewald said.

“Deception is the key.”

While success has ebbed and flowed for the Diamondbacks this season, one thing that’s remained constant has been the bullpen’s imbalance. The team broke spring training camp with zero left-handed relievers, and southpaws have thrown just 9.3% of relief innings for the Diamondbacks this season.

This year more than any other, the absence of left-handed hurlers stands out.

“The percentage of plate appearances taken up by lefty batters across the majors this year has skyrocketed,” analytics expert and MLB.com writer Mike Petriello said.

“To me, that kind of does show you need some good left-handers in your bullpen.”

Although he was one of the final cuts for the Opening Day roster, Brandyn Garcia has surfaced as that good left-hander for the Diamondbacks.

“Spring training wasn’t the best, first month of the year wasn’t the best either,” he said. “It was just trusting everything I had, and all the work that I was putting in and everything like that.

“Trusting what the coaching staff was telling me, trusting everybody else around me. They were supporting me and they’re there for me, just believing the words everybody kept saying.”

That trust has paid off for Garcia, as he’s allowed just five earned runs across 17.2 innings this season with a 0.85 WHIP. Despite serving as the primary left-hander in the bullpen, he doesn’t feel any added pressure.

“I don’t really look at being the only lefty in here,” he said. “Having the lefty term is kind of a big deal, not really, but everybody here can face a lefty, everyone can face a righty.”

While he downplays the role of being the only left-hander, he is proud of the importance of his role.

“When I was in college, I had this realization that lefties, I need to absolutely dominate,” Garcia told Wolf and Luke on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “If a lefty gets a hit off me, I’m way more mad than if a righty does.

“I take a lot of pride in just being able to go out there and attack lefties,” he said.

The only other left-handed reliever to feature for the Diamondbacks this season is Philip Abner, who’s thrown 6.1 innings across three sporadic appearances. The bullpen as a whole will be of increased importance going forward, with starters Michael Soroka and Ryne Nelson being placed on the Injured List. 

The group looks to regain the success it found in May.

“Just staying confident in ourselves, staying to what we did last month that worked really well,” Garcia said.

They believe once one of the relievers gets on a hot streak, everyone will.

“When everyone’s starting to throw the ball well, it feels like it’s contagious,” Sewald said. “Just like when everyone’s hitting well, even if you’re struggling, you know, you start to find barrels.”

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