The Dodgers are finally at the All-Star break, and for a club that has still managed a Major League-best 61-36 record, the pause comes at a good time. Los Angeles had just dropped its third straight game to the Arizona Diamondbacks, a loss that completed the team’s first sweep against it in the 2026 season.
Manager Dave Roberts didn’t sugarcoat the stretch.
“Some mental lapses, some physical lapses,” Roberts said. “This last week has just been below average for sure.”
Even with the rough patch, the bigger picture has been strong for the Dodgers, who have spent much of the season without closer Edwin Diaz. The right-hander signed a three-year, $69 million deal with Los Angeles in the offseason, but his start in Dodger blue never really got rolling. In his first seven outings, Diaz gave up seven runs on nine hits and struck out five.
By April, the Dodgers announced Diaz would need arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his right elbow.
Now there’s at least a clearer sense of when he might be back. Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior told the Los Angeles Times that Diaz is trending toward a return in about three to four weeks, as long as everything keeps moving the right way.
"He's been throwing pretty effortlessly, free, maybe a week after he started throwing," Prior said, adding that he believes Diaz will return in about three to four weeks if he continues to progress smoothly.
Diaz had already sounded encouraged a few weeks earlier after his first bullpen session in late June.
"Doing great," Diaz told David Vassegh of AM570. "I threw my first bullpen on Friday, it was really good, over my expectations. It was way easier than I expected doing it, so I'm really happy I'm going in the right direction, and I can't wait to complete my rehab and be back with the team."
He took another step on July 11, starting a rehab assignment with Single-A Ontario and throwing one scoreless inning. It was his first live action since April 19. Diaz struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a base hit.
Roberts said the Dodgers still aren’t rushing anything with their injured closer.
“I think the arm feels good, but there’s also a command of getting major-league hitters out,” Roberts said. “We’re going to make sure that he’s ready to go before we put him at the back end of a major-league game. I think that’s fair, not only to him, but to our ballclub.”
Until Diaz is ready, Los Angeles has leaned on a committee in the ninth inning, with Tanner Scott handling most of the save chances. Scott has been a much steadier option than he was in 2025, putting up a 2.56 ERA and a team-high 13 saves this season.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Bigger Roki Sasaki Question Than Before
Roki Sasakis first season in the majors has been a study in contrasts, which is hardly what the Dodgers expected when they brought over a pitcher with such a decorated track record in Nippon Professional Baseball. The 24-year-old has had flashes that hint at why the organization was so interested in him, but the overall line has been uneven, and the club has spent much of the year trying to figure out where his best fit really is.
Dave Roberts has said Sasaki is better now than he was at the start of the season, and there have been enough encouraging outings to keep that assessment from sounding like empty optimism. Even so, the larger question for the Dodgers is no longer just whether Sasaki can settle in as a starter, but how much the team can afford to keep waiting while the rest of the pitching picture continues to shift around him. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Draft Pick Just Won Over Fans With One Dodgers Shot
The Padres used the 21st pick in the 2026 MLB Draft on a Florida right-hander who arrives with plenty of buzz after a dominant senior season at South Walton High School. He put together a 0.21 ERA, went 11-0 and piled up 121 strikeouts, a run that helped him earn Floridas Gatorade High School Player of the Year Award and made him one of the more polished prep arms in the class.
What also stood out at his opening press conference was the confidence he showed talking about the rivalry waiting for him in the National League West. For Dodgers fans, it was the kind of early jab that can instantly make a prospect memorable, especially when it comes from a player who has already shown he can back up big words with big results on the mound. [Read more 🡒]
MLB Insider Just Linked A Juggernaut To The Deadline's Biggest Prize
Tarik Skubal has become the kind of name that can reshape the entire trade-deadline conversation, and the Detroit left-hander sits at the center of it as the reigning American League Cy Young winner. With the deadline drawing closer, the buzz around him has only grown, and ESPN insider Jeff Passan added to it by placing the Dodgers squarely in the mix as a team with the resources and appeal to chase a pitcher of that caliber.
For Los Angeles, the idea is obvious enough to linger: a front office that has spent years operating from a position of strength now has a chance to pursue the most coveted arm on the market. Nothing is settled, and Detroit has not moved him, but the speculation alone underscores how aggressively the deadline could tilt if the Dodgers decide this is the moment to push in. [Read more 🡒]