Edwin Diaz’s return to the Dodgers came with a much-needed dose of optimism.
Activated on Friday after a month away, Diaz was thrown right back into the mix the same night and, for the first time since a rough stretch in Triple-A, gave Los Angeles a reason to breathe a little easier. His entrance didn’t come until the Dodgers had already broken things open with five runs in the eighth inning to build an 8-2 cushion over the San Francisco Giants, setting up a lower-pressure ninth for the Puerto Rican reliever.
Diaz made the most of it. He worked a scoreless inning, gave up just one hit, didn’t issue a walk, and struck out two. Just as important, he avoided the kind of hard contact that has haunted him at times this season.
The fastball was the clear difference-maker. According to Baseball Savant, the pitch was up by 1.3 mph from earlier in the season and showed an extra inch of horizontal and vertical break. That movement paired well with sharper command, and his slider did enough to finish the job, generating a 50% chase rate.
There were still small things to watch. The slider showed an inch less drop and an inch less horizontal break, so that pitch will stay under the microscope. But on this night, it worked well enough off the heater to keep the Giants from doing damage.
That mattered for Diaz, who has spent this season battling his way through one setback after another. He had two separate injured list stints, one tied to elbow surgery and another for neck inflammation, and the results have been rough across the board. In the majors, he carried an 11.85 ERA over 13.2 innings with a 5.81 FIP, and his latest run in Triple-A wasn’t much better, with an 11.00 ERA in 4.1 innings.
That’s why Friday’s outing carried so much weight. The Dodgers had seen too many bad nights from Diaz, and even Dave Roberts had made it clear he wanted better before trusting him again. After this one, Roberts sounded pleased.
“I think getting strike one, I think the fastball had that life, 96 is a lot different than 99, and it just seemed like his delivery was through the catcher, and the slider, once you have that fastball, the slider is pretty lethal,” Roberts said.
“He’ll be available tomorrow and we are trying to get him four or five start or outings before the end of the season.”
For now, Diaz’s next few appearances will draw plenty of attention, especially the slider and whether Friday’s sharper version of the right-hander holds up.
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