Edwin Diaz’s elbow injury, surgery strikes another blow to Dodgers’ bullpen
When the Los Angeles Dodgers guaranteed three-time All-Star Edwin Díaz $67 million in December, the contract set a record for the highest average annual value ever given to a closer. It made sense for the Dodgers, who won the 2025 World Series in sprite of — not because of — a bullpen that blew 27 saves, tied for sixth in MLB , during the regular season. Tanner Scott’s four-year, $72 million deal, signed in January 2025, was supposed to remedy the situation.
It did not. MORE: Dodgers make trade, acquire Orioles’ 27-year-old rookie Scott, a left-hander, struggled to the tune of a 4. 74 ERA in his first season in Los Angeles.
By October, he had been replaced in the closer role by rookie Roki Sasaki. When Diaz came aboard, it was supposed to solve the Dodgers’ most obvious issue. Now they are in need of another solution.
Díaz was placed on the 15-day injured list April 20 with loose bodies in his elbow. While the diagnosis certainly helps explain the 31-year-old’s declining speed, it also could keep him on the shelf for much longer than the 15-day minimum. MORE: Dodgers make trade, acquire former top pitching prospect from Phillies As first reported by to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Díaz will undergo a procedure to address the loose bodies in his elbow.
Exactly who will close for the Dodgers — and for how long — remains to be seen. According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, the surgery will sideline Díaz for “somewhere in the neighborhood of three months. ” That would put Díaz on track for a return in late July.