Nothing has gone according to plan for Edwin Díaz in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but plenty of time remains to make the impact that was expected upon signing a three-year, $69 million contract.
Díaz took another step toward finding some rhythm in his return from right elbow surgery by retiring the side in order in the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-5 comeback win. The save was Díaz’s second since coming off the 60-day injured list.
It came in his first appearance after blowing a save against the Arizona Diamondbacks due to allowing back-to-back triples upon entering in the ninth.
Despite some of his recent struggles, manager Dave Roberts trusts Díaz to improve and is keeping him in the closer role, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group.
“I think I’ve always been consistent with this,” Roberts said. “If you look at how you’re going to use guys in the postseason – in my opinion – if we can’t trust Edwin Diaz in the postseason, then we’re going to have big problems. So I have to give him every opportunity to get comfortable, get back, cut his teeth, dust the rust off – whatever way you want to look at it – in that role. I have to look at it that way.”
Part of Roberts’ reasoning for leaving Díaz in his role as Dodgers closer is to avoid potentially impacting confidence.
“That’s part of my calculus,” Roberts said. “Because at the end of the day, there’s a psyche component to the closer coming in … and that player believing my manager, my team believes in me. That’s a part of it.
“That’s where people just don’t understand because you can’t quantify that. It’s not tangible. But it’s a real feeling that I don’t want to chip away at.”
Díaz’s fastball velocity was up one tick from his season average, as he sat 97.1 mph while facing the bottom of the Royals’ lineup. The performance was more in line with what Roberts said he wanted to see from the perennial All-Star closer. But it wasn’t without some concern.
Díaz gave up a deep fly ball for an out in center field and his final pitch of the game was a hittable slider.
The Dodgers sticking with Díaz for the time being makes sense as their bullpen lacks a clear replacement. Tanner Scott filled the role exceptionally well while Díaz was on the IL, but his fastball velocity has been a concern in the second half. Evan Phillips also hasn’t been sharp this season, and Alex Vesia has been inconsistent as of late.
Díaz has six saves in nine chances this season while pitching to an 9.82 ERA and 2.50 WHIP in 11 innings across 13 appearances.
Edwin Díaz trying to improve slider
Díaz showed signs of potentially bouncing back after preventing the Diamondbacks from a second consecutive walk-off win on Saturday. After allowing back-to-back triples that evened the score in the bottom of the ninth, the three-time All-Star escaped further damage by recording three outs to send the game to extra innings.
While Roberts believes Díaz needs to have more intensity on a consistent basis, the closer is mindful of working to improve his slider.
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