{"id":729819,"date":"2026-04-15T13:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/729819\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:51:17","slug":"dodgers-again-pass-on-closer-edwin-diaz-in-save-situation-dismiss-knee-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/729819\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers again pass on closer Edwin D\u00edaz in save situation, dismiss knee concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 The weirdness surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019<\/a> new high-priced closer Edwin D\u00edaz continued into Tuesday night\u2019s 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 \u2014 not D\u00edaz \u2014 walked through it.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz, it turns out, was unavailable because he\u2019d already pitched on Tuesday afternoon. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame that the club\u2019s training staff wanted to see D\u00edaz throw a bullpen session to test out his right knee, which D\u00edaz said \u201cdidn\u2019t feel right\u201d according to Roberts following the right-hander\u2019s last outing on Friday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same knee that D\u00edaz injured during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he tore his patellar tendon and missed the entire season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to pitch tonight, which I respect and I admire,\u201d Roberts said of D\u00edaz. \u201cBut you got to go through protocol and certain channels, and they wanted to see a bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s bullpen session went well, Roberts said, adding that if D\u00edaz comes in and says he feels well enough to pitch on Wednesday, he could be available for the series finale against his former team.<\/p>\n

Di\u00e1z left the Dodgers clubhouse before reporters were allowed in on Tuesday night, but insisted over the weekend that he is healthy enough to pitch.<\/p>\n

The right-hander\u2019s status and the health of his right knee have made for a strange saga, nonetheless.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz 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.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers did not use D\u00edaz on Saturday night in a save situation, with Roberts saying afterwards that while the closer said he felt fine, the team would be \u201ctreading lightly\u201d with D\u00edaz\u2019s usage in the coming days. Rather than cite an injury, Roberts pointed to D\u00edaz\u2019s lower velocity, which has averaged 95.8 mph this month \u2014 down from the 96.3 mph and 96.9 mph he averaged on his fastball velocity each of the last two Aprils.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz 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.<\/p>\n

Roberts did not disclose that the knee was a potential issue until Monday afternoon, saying that D\u00edaz had undergone and passed manual testing. The manager added that it was possible D\u00edaz would be available to pitch in this series. As it turns out, D\u00edaz 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.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have downplayed their concern about D\u00edaz from the outset, though their handling of him has led to some confusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, honestly, I felt it was benign from the outset, but we were going to be cautious, which we were,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers were prepared to close out Tuesday night\u2019s game without D\u00edaz, 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.<\/p>\n

That left the ninth inning to Vesia to go for his second save in four days.<\/p>\n

It was already an emotional day for Vesia, in the midst of an emotional season<\/a>. He, along with his wife, Kayla, had invited the nurses who had cared for their late daughter, Sterling Sol<\/a>, to sit in a suite at Dodger Stadium for the team\u2019s healthcare workers appreciation night. Tuesday marked the first time Vesia had seen many of those medical professionals since Sterling Sol\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

The ninth inning brought things full circle. Facing down the heart of the Mets\u2019 order, Vesia struck out the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t have wrote it any better,\u201d Vesia said. \u201cThat\u2019s (what) I do it for, man. I mean, you guys know, I wear my heart on my sleeve when I\u2019m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 The weirdness surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 new high-priced closer Edwin D\u00edaz continued into Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":729820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2502,1266,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-729819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116409053455674420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}