The Los Angeles Dodgers are officially putting All-Star closer Edwin Díaz back on the injured list, and if you thought things couldn’t get worse for their bullpen, you were dead wrong. This latest IL stint is for an “upper body” issue, thankfully not his surgically repaired elbow, but the damage to his season, and the Dodgers’ late-inning plans, is already catastrophic. This isn’t just a minor setback; this is the first year of a massive three-year, $69 million contract turning into an absolute nightmare, straight up. What a brutal twist for a guy who was supposed to be the final piece for a championship-contending squad.
Díaz’s Numbers Are Getting Hard to Ignore
Let’s just look at the raw facts, because they paint a grim picture. Díaz has been on the mound for 16 outings this season, and the numbers are ugly. We’re talking an 11.85 ERA, a mind-boggling 2.56 WHIP, and a brutal -1.4 WAR. He’s got seven saves, sure, which sounds okay, but he’s also coughed up four blown saves. Seven times he’s held teams scoreless, which is fine, but then five times he’s given up multiple runs in an appearance. This guy was an elite closer just last season and for multiple years before that, making this fall from grace genuinely shocking. Remember, he was already on the IL earlier this season, from April 20 to July 29, for surgery to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow. Everyone hoped that was the explanation, the *reason* for the early struggles. But guess what? It wasn’t.
Worse Than Ever: The Bullpen Is a Total Mess
After coming back from elbow surgery on July 29, you’d think things would improve, right? You’d expect some relief, some semblance of the old Díaz. Nope. In his nine appearances post-return, Díaz somehow managed to get even worse. He posted a 12.91 ERA, with three saves in six chances. That’s starting from a low bar and somehow digging even deeper. His last outing on Tuesday night in Colorado was the final straw, the defining moment that forced this IL move: three runs, four hits, zero strikeouts, and a hit batter in one measly inning of relief. You simply cannot expect to win when your closer is handing out runs like candy. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts put it bluntly when asked about his options in a key situation, sounding absolutely fed up: “Give me another option. I can’t just say, ‘Change (Díaz) to low leverage.’ I have to have other options, and to be quite honest, none of those guys really have thrown the baseball great. That’s just kind of the way it is.” He’s not wrong at all. The bullpen, as a whole, is not deep or good right now.
With Díaz out again, the Dodgers are recalling Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A to try and patch things up. Guys like Tanner Scott, with his respectable 2.20 ERA, and Alex Vesia, sporting a 2.91 ERA, are likely going to be the main late-inning options Roberts can truly trust. Evan Phillips, who has closing experience, and Jack Dreyer are also in the mix, but the options are thin. This team, fresh off two consecutive World Series championships, thought they were shoring up their biggest weakness with the acquisition of Díaz. Instead, they’re right back where they were last season when the bullpen was a major concern down the stretch. They desperately need these other guys to step up big time in the upcoming games, or this late season run could turn into something nobody in Los Angeles wants to see, especially after dropping so much cash on their closer.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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