Cardinals silence opposing pitcher after abrasive social media post

The St. Louis Cardinals have had plenty of rivals throughout the years. Most notably, the Chicago Cubs. However, a new challenger has appeared. His name is Paul Sewald. 

Sewald, 36, is the closer in the desert this year for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s played for the Mets, Mariners, Guardians, and Tigers in his lengthy career, which started in 2017. 

In the Cardinals' last matchup against the Snakes, they ended up canceling a game due to inclement weather. That led Sewald to post this on X: 

“No you’re right thank you @Cardinals for not moving our game up to this afternoon when we politely asked given the whole world knew it was going to rain tonight. I actually was really hoping we could lose an off day and turn it into a 4 city road trip.”

Sewald’s little hissy fit wasn’t unwarranted. In a long and strenuous season, you can imagine how the wear and tear could affect a player’s attitude toward scheduling changes. Conversely, there’s no excuse for this kind of reaction from a professional athlete. Social media SHOULD be a platform to spread love, awareness, and kindness. Not to fret over scheduling changes with an annual salary of $1.5 million this year (career earnings of $23+ million according to Sportrac). 

Thankfully, St. Louis didn’t let the slight go unanswered. 

The Cardinals got Paul Sewald back, and his ERA

St. Louis’ first series out of the break lined up in Arizona, against Sewald and his Snakes. 

In game one, St. Louis was up 4-2 in the eighth inning when All-Star outfielder Corbin Carroll got the bat head out in front of a George Soriano changeup. After it clanged against the foul pole for a two-run shot, the game was tied. 

With the score knotted headed into the ninth, and potential for a late-season change at the helm on the horizon, D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo went to his closer, Sewald.

The veteran righty would only last 0.1 innings and surrendered the lead. St. Louis loaded the bases, and a struggling Ivan Herrera came through with a sacrifice fly that would win the game. 

That prompted this post from STL Sports Central’s Ethan Hannaford: 

Sewald took the loss. And the next game, he got another shot. 

The second go-around, Sewald managed the save. But not before rookie catcher Jimmy Crooks went 440+ feet over the pool, bumping Sewald’s ERA to a dandy 4.67. 

People keep talking about how these Redbirds don’t quit. Games are always close, and the fight never stops. Apparently, the same holds true with a verbal challenger. Best of luck to Sewald the rest of the way. He’ll have another game tomorrow, and one more makeup game in a four-city road trip for the D-Backs against the Cardinals. 

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