Could Edwin Diaz reclaim Dodgers closer position? ‘Certainly attainable’…
In an ideal world, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts said, the team want to have one set closer getting into the playoffs.
And by the end of Tuesday’s 7-0 win over the San Diego Padres, one surprising identify might need thrown their hat again into the ring.
Per week in the past, the Dodgers weren’t sure Edwin Díaz would even be on their playoff roster, after the $69 million offseason signing misplaced his closer job amid an injury-plagued season marred by an ERA of practically 12.00.
In three outings since getting back from the injured listing, however, the three-time All-Star has all of the sudden seemed like his outdated dominant self again.
Edwin Diaz pitches throws a pitch during the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 10-4 win over the Giants on Sept. 19, 2026 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. IMAGN IMAGES through Reuters Connect
So a lot so, Roberts said it stays “certainly possible” that he may issue into the Dodgers’ ninth-inning October plans.
Roberts made that declare after Díaz’s best performance yet, when he retired the top of the Padres’ batting order so as in a dominant fifth-inning sequence.
That marked the right-hander’s third scoreless look in a row –– a stretch that has included only one hit, one stroll and 6 strikeouts –– and continued an unexpected return to type triggered by a current mechanical adjustment he made during a minor-league rehab stint.
“His last three have been fantastic with us,” Roberts said. “I wanted to see him against their better hitters, and he did a really nice job.”
Indeed, Díaz started his inning by ringing up Fernando Tatis Jr. on a front-door slider. He then fanned Dustin Harris at the end of a nine-pitch at-bat with a swing-and-miss slider. Had he used an ABS challenge, he may have punched out Manny Machado too. But he retired him all the same with a smooth tapper again to the mound.
“Given all that he’s had to go through this year,” Roberts said, “to right the ship is a big credit to him.”
But will or not it’s sufficient to place him again in consideration for closing duties?
Roberts made positive to not shut that door yet.
Edwin Diaz celebrates after recording the final out in the Dodgers’ 8-2 win over the Giants on Sept. 18, 2026 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Getty Images
“The way he’s throwing, the ninth is possible, yes,” the supervisor said.
At the very least, it provides one more subplot to the final week of the Dodgers’ common season.
The team, after all, has other closer choices to think about. Tanner Scott has transformed 23 of 27 save alternatives with a 2.77 ERA as Díaz’s substitute this 12 months. Roki Sasaki has also returned to reduction duties as he did at the end of last season, when he emerged as an emergency closing possibility during the Dodgers’ run to a second-straight World Series.
And as Roberts famous Tuesday, a closer-by-committee plan stays in play, as effectively.
But as the Dodgers set out for a three-peat this 12 months, they always envisioned Díaz –– and his trademark trumpet bullpen entrance –– being a staple at the end of games.
Though he suffered a career-worst campaign, changing just seven of 11 save alternatives while lacking three months with an elbow injury and another with neck inflammation, there may be time for him to reclaim his authentic position yet.
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