A late-season tweak helped turn Edwin Díaz’s Dodgers debut from a grind into exactly what Los Angeles had been waiting for.
The key detail surfaced after Game 4 of the NLDS, during the celebration that locked in a trip to the NLCS. Kiké Hernández said minor league catcher Chadwick Tromp, who joined the Dodgers on a minor-league deal midseason, spotted something in Díaz’s mechanics and helped point the right people to it.
“A former Brave, Chadwick Tromp, who was with us in AAA, noticed something in his mechanics, and they went over it after the game, and it was a very easy fix, and Sugar is back to being Sugar,” Hernandez said.
That adjustment appears to have unlocked the version of Díaz the Dodgers thought they were getting when they committed $69 million to him. Since coming back, his command has been sharper, and the stuff has kept climbing too, with the velocity rising along with the movement on both the fastball and slider.
Díaz’s path back started after a rough stretch that included an injured list stint and a bumpy rehab assignment with the OKC Comets in Triple-A. But after returning on September 18, he hasn’t allowed a run.
In the regular season, he gave up just one hit and one walk across five shutout innings. That was enough for Dave Roberts to trust him for the postseason roster and hand him a high-leverage role.
Díaz answered with three appearances in the four-game NLDS, allowing only one hard-hit single and picking up two saves. For a pitcher who had been through a frustrating season by his standards, it was a clean, decisive turnaround.
“He’s had a tough season,” Roberts said after the NLDS. “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.”
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For the Dodgers, the new calendar means the wait is nearly over as they prepare for a trip to Milwaukee and a Brewers team that earned home-field advantage with a huge regular season. The full rhythm of the series is now in place, including possible game dates stretching deeper into the week, but the real answer fans care about is still ahead: how this matchup unfolds once the first pitch arrives. [Read more 🡒]