Last spring, Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Paul Sewald and his wife, Molly, purchased a home in the Valley with a plan: six months at home, six months on the road, and stability for their two young daughters.
The cycle of packing, unpacking and re-establishing routines was getting tiring. Then the phone rang.
“The Diamondbacks called, and we thought, ‘That’s amazing,’” Sewald said, sitting in the dugout during batting practice. “Pretty cool to stay at home.”
For Sewald, the move wasn’t just convenient — it was personal. Sewald and Molly met while she was an ASU student. His brother, Johnny, is also a former Sun Devil. The couple considered settling in the Valley during Sewald’s first stint with the D-backs, from 2023-2024. Those wishes were initially dashed.
“We were hoping I was going to get an extension, and we were going to move here in the first place,” he said. “We’ve always loved Phoenix.”
Now they’re here for good, and Sewald can exhale — and that’s not easy for him.
“A little bit of a perfectionist in a game that’s not able to be a perfectionist,” he admitted. “I think I would pitch better if maybe I had a better time rolling stuff off my back, but it’s not who I am, and I’m not going to change now.”
Sewald is honest about what keeps him coming back to the mound after injuries and setbacks during his nine MLB seasons.
“I don’t love anything like I love striking somebody out,” he said, smiling. “The rush of it is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”
It doesn’t hurt that the D-backs are a band of brothers. The bonds forged during the Diamondbacks’ World Series run still matter. “You’ve been in the trenches with them,” he said. “You get to know people, and you get to be very close that way.
“They’re everything. I joke that I got good at baseball when I started having a kid, so they’re just my lucky charm.”
His off‑days are simple: splash pads, swimming, golf when he can sneak it in, and as much family time as the baseball calendar allows. “Baseball is a lot of time away,” he said. “So, I just like to hang with my family and spend time with my girls.”
He laughs about the difference between “mom days” and “dad days.”
“When my wife has them solo, they end up playing by themselves. If I have them solo, they never play solo. They always come to me,” he said.
Never a Plan B
Baseball wasn’t optional in the Sewald household. His father pitched at Loyola Marymount and was drafted in 1979. “He was a pitcher — that was his passion,” Sewald said. “He kind of put it on my brother and I and gave us the opportunity.”
From the moment he picked up a baseball, Sewald couldn’t have imagined doing anything else. “I was naïve to think I was going to have this life, but I’ve only thought about Plan A, and it’s worked out pretty well.”
His New York debut — nine years ago, almost to the day — is still vivid. “I couldn’t feel my legs because I was so nervous. I couldn’t feel my upper body because it was so cold,” he said. “The debut wasn’t one to remember, but the experience of getting to the dream… that was incredible.”
Nine years later, the MLB still calls.
Sewald is clearly happy and settled in the Valley. He has favorite restaurants — The Mission at Kierland for a quick date and Ocean 44 for an upscale night.
And he has a team that feels like the right fit at the right moment.
“We’ve been ecstatic about the situation,” he said. “It’s been fantastic.”
