LOS ANGELES — The weirdness surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers’ new high-priced closer Edwin Díaz continued into Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over the New York Mets, when the bullpen gate swung open for a save situation in the ninth inning and Alex Vesia — not Díaz — walked through it.
Díaz, it turns out, was unavailable because he’d already pitched on Tuesday afternoon. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame that the club’s training staff wanted to see Díaz throw a bullpen session to test out his right knee, which Díaz said “didn’t feel right” according to Roberts following the right-hander’s last outing on Friday.
It’s the same knee that Díaz injured during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he tore his patellar tendon and missed the entire season.
“He wanted to pitch tonight, which I respect and I admire,” Roberts said of Díaz. “But you got to go through protocol and certain channels, and they wanted to see a bullpen.”
So the Dodgers stayed away from their new closer on Tuesday night. It is still April, and the 13-4 Dodgers have the luxury of taking the long view with the man to whom they gave three years and $69 million this past winter.
Tuesday’s bullpen session went well, Roberts said, adding that if Díaz comes in and says he feels well enough to pitch on Wednesday, he could be available for the series finale against his former team.
Diáz left the Dodgers clubhouse before reporters were allowed in on Tuesday night, but insisted over the weekend that he is healthy enough to pitch.
The right-hander’s status and the health of his right knee have made for a strange saga, nonetheless.
Díaz reported what he was feeling in his knee to the Dodgers after that Friday night outing against the Texas Rangers, when the three-time All-Star closer allowed three runs as his average fastball velocity dropped to 95.5 mph.
The Dodgers did not use Díaz on Saturday night in a save situation, with Roberts saying afterwards that while the closer said he felt fine, the team would be “treading lightly” with Díaz’s usage in the coming days. Rather than cite an injury, Roberts pointed to Díaz’s lower velocity, which has averaged 95.8 mph this month — down from the 96.3 mph and 96.9 mph he averaged on his fastball velocity each of the last two Aprils.
Díaz said over the weekend that he has had an issue starting slow with his fastball velocity ever since he first injured his right knee. His season-long fastball velocity increased over the course of 2024 and 2025, up to 97.5 mph and 97.2 mph respectively.
Roberts did not disclose that the knee was a potential issue until Monday afternoon, saying that Díaz had undergone and passed manual testing. The manager added that it was possible Díaz would be available to pitch in this series. As it turns out, Díaz could potentially be available for just one game after the training staff wanted him to throw off the mound Tuesday following three days without pitching.
The Dodgers have downplayed their concern about Díaz from the outset, though their handling of him has led to some confusion.
“I mean, honestly, I felt it was benign from the outset, but we were going to be cautious, which we were,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers were prepared to close out Tuesday night’s game without Díaz, signaling to both Blake Treinen and Vesia to be ready to pitch in the later innings against a designated lane of hitters. Roberts inserted Treinen with two outs in the eighth and the right-hander struck out Luis Robert Jr. to end the frame.
That left the ninth inning to Vesia to go for his second save in four days.
It was already an emotional day for Vesia, in the midst of an emotional season. He, along with his wife, Kayla, had invited the nurses who had cared for their late daughter, Sterling Sol, to sit in a suite at Dodger Stadium for the team’s healthcare workers appreciation night. Tuesday marked the first time Vesia had seen many of those medical professionals since Sterling Sol’s passing.
The ninth inning brought things full circle. Facing down the heart of the Mets’ order, Vesia struck out the side.
“I couldn’t have wrote it any better,” Vesia said. “That’s (what) I do it for, man. I mean, you guys know, I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.”