Several factors could account for Edwin Diaz’s performance on Sunday.
Diaz was pitching for the first time in nine days. He was playing in the famous hitters’ paradise at Coors Field. He was throwing in an unsaveable position.
Common sense would suggest that this wasn’t something to be overly concerned about, but given Diaz’s outsized importance to the Dodgers, the $69 million implosion set off alarm bells.
“Today was a tough evaluation,” head coach Dave Roberts told reporters in Colorado. “I mean, it really was. Because I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little unsettling, really.”
Diaz reached 97 mph a few times, but overall his fastball velocity remained low, making Roberts wonder if there was something physically wrong with him. Roberts said he would make it a point to talk to him.
“I should know more,” Roberts added.
Especially with Diaz failing to score a single run in the eighth inning of a 9-6 loss to the Rockies.
Despite Rocky Sasaki’s inconsistency, he alone cannot sink the Dodgers. But an out-of-form Diaz could change the course of the season, which explains why Roberts found his eighth-inning inning as troubling as he did.
With a combination of knee issues and a lack of saving opportunities keeping the 32-year-old Diaz inactive for more than a week, Roberts was determined to get the All-Star right-hander back on the mound. Except the pitcher who called him into the game wasn’t the same pitcher the Dodgers thought they signed.
The first pitch Diaz threw was a low fastball that Willy Castro singled to right field. Diaz proceeded to walk Kyle Karros on five pitches, each slider ball missed by a wide margin.
“He obviously didn’t intervene [nine] “For days, so I’m sure there was some rust in it,” Roberts said.
A single by Brenton Doyle loaded the bases. Against the ensuing batter, Diaz fouled a fastball and fouled his slider to fall behind in the count, setting up a two-run single by Edouard Julien.
What’s particularly troubling is that the fastball Diaz threw on Julian’s first pitch was only 92.8 mph.
“I had no command and the speed was low,” Roberts said. “This was clearly not a rescue situation. There may have been some adrenaline – or lack thereof – that played a role.”
The Dodgers better hope that happens because the alternative scenarios would be annoying.
Diaz made his first save in his previous appearance and complained of discomfort in his right knee. He tore a ligament while celebrating Puerto Rico’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and missed the entire season recovering from surgery.
He blamed weakness in that surgically repaired knee for a decline in his velocity in his previous appearance, a save for the Rangers on April 10. He was sidelined for a few days, and then was asked to throw a bullpen by the Dodgers’ coaching staff. He said he felt back to normal and announced that he was ready to participate in the match.
So maybe the knee is still bothering him. But what if it isn’t? And what if the specific circumstances of the game — a layoff, Coors Field, a no-save situation — didn’t affect his performance either?
That could be even worse, because it would indicate that Diaz is no longer the pitcher the Dodgers thought they signed.
Investing big money in a reliever is always a gamble, but the Dodgers thought his track record mitigated much of the risk. They once signed Kenley Janssen to an $80 million extension. If Diaz was on his side, and the Dodgers believed they were, signing him to a three-year deal was entirely justified, especially before a season in which a triple-digit title was on the line.
Now, nine starts into the season, Diaz looks more like the 2025 Tanner Scott than Prime Janssen. Diaz’s ERA shipped by three innings on Sunday from 6.00 to 10.50.
Two bad plays by a reliever don’t call for sirens all over town. Think of this as a mobile phone alert. The Dodgers don’t have to trade for a closer or move Sasaki to the bullpen — at least not yet. But just because of the potential ramifications, this isn’t a development they can ignore either.