Edgardo Henriquez may be forcing his way into more ninth-inning work for the Dodgers.
He closed out Los Angeles’ three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals on Sunday with a scoreless ninth and picked up his second save of the season. It was another strong moment for a reliever who has quietly become one of the brighter spots in the Dodgers bullpen, and manager Dave Roberts sounds open to giving him more chances.
“I think so,” Roberts said when asked about that possibility. “I just think he’s got such really electric stuff, and in the ninth inning, that stuff plays.
But in all honesty, there’s a lot of guys. There’s four or five guys that I feel could finish a game.
But yeah, Edgardo is certainly high up the run.”
The save didn’t come easy. Henriquez had to navigate the top of the Nationals’ order, and three left-handed hitters were part of the challenge. Roberts liked the way the right-hander handled the pressure, calling it the kind of outing that could matter when the games get bigger in October.
“Yes. Yeah.
Absolutely,” Roberts began. “With the first four hitters there tonight, a couple lefties, I thought this was a good opportunity for him.
And yeah, you get into the postseason, and every inning is a high-leverage inning. So to kind of get him to have that feeling, it’s important.
“Last year, I think we cut his teeth in that spot, and there were some moments that I felt got too fast for him, and so he’s really slowing it down now.”
The results back up the growing trust. Henriquez is 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA, 2.52 FIP, 0.95 WHIP and 10.6 strikeouts per nine over 57.2 appearances across 58 appearances. He’s been trending in the right direction all season, and he recently made history by throwing the fastest Dodgers strikeout pitch on record.
Now in his third season with Los Angeles, the 24-year-old originally signed as an international free agent in 2018.
The late-inning picture in Los Angeles is still crowded. Tanner Scott has been handling closing duties while Edwin Diáz works back from neck inflammation. Even with Scott pitching well and Diáz nearing a return, Henriquez could still keep carving out ninth-inning chances.
And when Díaz is back, he’s expected to ease into lower-leverage spots instead of jumping straight back into the closer role. That could leave Henriquez with a little more room to keep building his case in the ninth.
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