The Edwin Diaz experiment in Los Angeles is not going well, and now there is an injury layered on top of the meltdown.
The Dodgers placed their closer on the injured list Tuesday, with Katie Woo of The Athletic reporting that the issue is believed to be related to his upper body. Neck inflammation has been mentioned. Whatever the specific diagnosis, the timing gets Diaz out of the closer’s role at the exact moment he was pitching himself out of it anyway.
The Numbers Are Ugly
Diaz has a 2-2 record with a 11.85 ERA and just seven saves in 16 games this season. Four blown saves. He had blown three of his last four outings before the IL move, including a save opportunity against Milwaukee on August 13 in a game the Dodgers lost 5-4.
Manager Dave Roberts had publicly stuck with Diaz as his closer up until the IL move. That was less about performance and more about the money attached to him.
How He Got Here
Diaz spent six years with the Mets before the Dodgers signed him this offseason to a three-year, $69 million contract. He was supposed to be the final piece of the best bullpen in baseball.
Instead he underwent surgery in late April to remove loose bodies from his elbow. He did not make his season debut until July 29 against Seattle. Since coming back, he has walked five and allowed 16 hits over 7.2 innings.
Those are not blip numbers. Those are structural problems with command and life on the fastball, and the Dodgers know it.
Tanner Scott Takes Over
Tanner Scott is the easy answer at closer for the time being. He already has 16 saves this season and has been the more reliable arm in the bullpen for months.
Scott was signed to be the setup man, but he has quietly performed like a top-10 closer. The Dodgers were going to have to figure out how to divide save opportunities eventually. The Diaz IL trip just made the decision for them.
What’s Next for Diaz
He came back too fast the first time. Nobody in Los Angeles is going to want to rush him now. Best case, he takes a few weeks, drops the neck inflammation, gets his mechanics right and comes back as a setup arm for the stretch run and October.
Worst case, this signing looks like one of the biggest bullpen misses of the decade by the end of the season.
The Dodgers are still going to win the NL West and still going to be a playoff favorite. They have the depth to absorb Diaz falling out of the closer role. What they cannot absorb is a $23 million per year reliever pitching to a 12 ERA in October.
Diaz’s whole career has been a series of resets. He has done this before with the Mets, and the second half of his tenure in New York was outstanding. The Dodgers are betting the same trajectory shows up here. Right now they are just trying to get him through this week.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
