ATLANTA — The most expensive closer in baseball history has found his way back to the ninth inning.
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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called upon Edwin Diaz to close out the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday night. It was Diaz’s first appearance in a save situation since Aug. 14.
“I’ve said all along that once he starts throwing the baseball like he’s capable of, I have no problem putting him in the ninth to finish a game,” Roberts said following Game 3. “Tonight it was probably (Edgardo) Henriquez, (Evan) Phillips or Diaz. I just felt that, in this environment, he’s done it many times over. I wanted to bet on that as well as kind of how he’s throwing the baseball.”
Then he did it again in Game 4. Roberts turned to Diaz to close out the series-clinching 4-1 victory on Wednesday night. After the back-to-back saves, it sounded very much like Diaz had pitched his way back into the closer role he was signed to fill.
“He’s had a tough season,” Roberts said. “He’s been hurt. He was having trouble with his delivery and went on a long rehab assignment. But to get him pitching this way – that’s the reason why we got him. The last two nights, that’s the reason why we acquired a guy like Edwin Diaz. He’s one of the great closers in the game. For him to be pitching his best right now, that’s what you hope for, and I give him a lot of credit.”
Diaz spent much of the first year of the three-year, $69 million contract he signed last winter (the highest average annual salary ever given to a closer) on the injured list following surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. When he was on the active roster, he was largely ineffective until recently.
Diaz has been building toward this since he returned from his second IL stint in mid-September, Roberts said, assuaging concerns that he might not rediscover his form in time to be a contributor in October. But this version of the 32-year-old Diaz could be a key part of the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen.
“I just feel that for us to win the World Series, he’s got to be a relevant part of this equation,” Roberts said.
A “relevant part” does not mean the dedicated closer, however.
“I think that there’s no downside, in my opinion, in seeing where the game goes, knowing that I trust him there. I’ve shown it,” Roberts said before his decision in the ninth inning of Game 4 betrayed his words. “I trust Tanner (Scott), I trust Evan, different guys – (Alex) Vesia.
“So I just think that I don’t want to be beholden to one thing yet, because the game takes a lot of different turns. And if I feel that Edwin is the best person to extend the game, shorten the game in a spot, then I’m going to use him.”
The fact that Roberts does trust him after all the difficulties of his season “means a lot,” Diaz said. He also expressed gratitude that the Dodgers had stuck with him during “his process” this season.
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But he isn’t making any assumptions about his role going forward.
“Really, after my second stint on the IL, I wasn’t thinking about anything,” he said. “Just I want to get right, I want to get healthy, and be in the position to help this team to win.
“Today, as soon I got to the bullpen, I was ready to pitch. By the sixth inning, I was stretching myself just in case they called my name early. I was waiting for the call for the ninth and they called in the ninth.”
Fellow Puerto Rican Kiké Hernandez has known “Sugar” for a long time. The two are three years apart in age but “My dad coached him in travel ball right before the draft and all those things,” Hernandez said. “So I’ve been knowing about him and admiring his career very proudly from afar.”
Hernandez also praised Diaz for continuing to fight his way back this season through injury and mechanical adjustment.
“This year – it’s a very, very difficult year, and it’s very easy to just put the year aside and, like, not really give up on the year, but he worked his ass off to get to this point,” Hernandez said. “For him, it was just one slight mechanical adjustment that he needed to do that he didn’t realize until his second-to-last outing in his last rehab assignment.
“We needed him to feel like he felt good throwing the baseball and now his confidence is back. When he’s on, he’s as good a closer as anybody in baseball. So that’s kind of what we’re seeing right now.”
ROJAS STATUS
Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas was feeling “not great” after injuring his back in Game 3, Roberts said. Rojas slipped while fielding a ground ball and left the game after aggravating the injury during an eighth-inning at-bat.
Rojas was still feeling sore on Wednesday and was not available to play in Game 4, according to Roberts.
“We have an extended bench anyway,” Roberts said. “So to try to make any decisions that would compromise his status for a potential next series doesn’t make sense. So we’re going to kick this one to another day.”
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