The Los Angeles Dodgers have placed closer Edwin Díaz on the injured list due to loose bodies in his pitching elbow, the ballclub revealed Monday. Lefty reliever Jake Eder has been recalled from the minors as a corresponding move. What’s worse, Díaz needs surgery to remove these loose bodies and is expected to miss around three months, per ESPN.
Díaz, who was with the Mets for the previous seven years of his career and had been one of baseball’s best closers at several different points during those seasons, signed a three-year, $69 million deal with the Dodgers this past offseason.
The rich get richer was the headline. It hasn’t come to fruition here in the tiny sample of what we’ve seen in 2026. Díaz has been bad. In 10 outings, he has a 10.50 ERA and 2.33 WHIP. He’s closed down four of his five save chances, but in his last two outings, he’s recorded just three outs while allowing seven hits and two walks en route to six earned runs.
It sure seems like the elbow injury was the culprit.
Through the first five outings of the season, Díaz had only given up one run and, hey, the blown save in the following outing could be written off as “these things happen.” Sunday in Colorado, though, sent up alarms: he gave up a single, walk and then two more singles before being pulled. That was his first time pitching in nine days.
The average fastball velocity on Sunday was 95.4 mph. His average last season was 97.2 mph and back in 2022 it was 99.1.
“Today was a tough evaluation,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday after the game. “I mean, it really was. Because I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”
For now, it looks like lefties Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and righties Jack Dreyer and Blake Treinen are the late-inning relievers for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
The two-time defending champion Dodgers are 15-6 right now, good for the best record in baseball. They are on a two-game losing streak, though, having dropped back-to-back games in Colorado.
