Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz said Monday that he’s known about the five loose bodies in his elbow — which were removed in an operation Wednesday — since he was drafted in 2012.
Last week in Colorado was the first time it affected him. He gave up three runs without recording an out on April 19. And the next day, he told the team his arm felt “weird.”
On Monday, he described the feeling as “tired and tight.”
Before his arm started giving him problems, Díaz was unavailable for four straight games because of fatigue in his knee. His legs felt “good” in Colorado, Díaz said.
Results from an MRI scan suggested that the loose bodies in his elbow were to blame for the discomfort in his arm. Díaz said he was confident the operation would resolve the problem.
“The tightness and the soreness was where the loose body was,” Díaz said. “So that’s why we ended up getting the surgery because it was in the same spot I’ve always had them.”
He’s hoping to return after the All-Star break. So, the Dodgers will have to come up with an alternate ninth-inning plan for the next two-and-a-half months.
“That sucks to miss the first half with the team,” Díaz said. “I’m new with this team. But that’s something I can’t control. Everyone here is supporting me. All of my teammates they’re supporting me, they’re happy that I’m doing way better than before. They just can’t wait to see me on the mound in the second half.
“They say, take your time, we need you in October. But I want to come back as soon as possible and help this team to win games.”
Díaz is still waiting to have his stitches removed, but he expects to start playing catch in a couple weeks.
“My arm is feeling way better than it did on Sunday,” he said. “That’s a good sign. Right now, just a couple days after surgery, I can move my arm really good. My range of motion is coming back to normal. So that’s something I like. And just get stronger and be ready for the second half.”
As left-hander Alex Vesia emerged from the Dodgers bullpen, heard the electric guitar riff of Seether’s “Gasoline,” and felt his adrenaline spike with the roar of the crowd, he knew 27 of those cheering fans had helped him and wife Kayla through a devastating loss just months prior.
He and Kayla had chosen the Dodgers’ game against the Mets on Tuesday, Healthcare appreciation night at Dodger Stadium, to celebrate the hands-on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who had cared for them last October, through the death of their newborn daughter Sterling Sol.
He’d spotted their suite by shirts Kayla had customized for the group, bearing the initials SV with a heart, and signed by Alex.
“Today was the first time I’ve seen pretty much all of them since everything,” Alex Vesia said after earning the save in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Tuesday. “So it was very special, very emotional. … I couldn’t have written it any better.”
Vesia authored the ending to what manager Dave Roberts called an “old school” pitcher’s duel. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mets starter each yielded only one run apiece, both in the first inning.
Yamamoto retired 20 straight after surrendering a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor. And he came back out in the eighth, with right-hander Blake Treinen and Vesia preparing for the call.
When Yamamoto allowed back-to-back two-out singles, just his third and fourth hits allowed, Roberts brought in Treinen to face Luis Robert Jr. Treinen struck out Robert on a sweeper that caught the bottom of the strike zone and withstood an ABS challenge.
“Not having [closer Edwin Díaz] available, I felt very confident to use Blake to get out of that inning, to get Robert,” Roberts said, “and to have Vesia take on some righties in a close situation.”
Díaz hadn’t pitched since last Friday, when he didn’t feel quite right and his velocity dropped during a blown save. Though he insisted over the weekend that he felt good physically, the Dodgers proceeded with caution.
Because of the time off, Roberts said, the training and coaching staff wanted Díaz to throw a bullpen Tuesday before returning to game action. As long as he responds well, Roberts said, Díaz will be “ready to go” Wednesday in the series finale.
Kyle Tucker singles in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Tuesday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
On Tuesday, a clutch swing from Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the eighth created a save situation with Díaz down.
With runners on first and second, Tucker fell behind in the count against Mets left-handed reliever Brooks Raley. Then, shaking off his slow offensive start to the season, Tucker sent a 1-and-2 cutter into shallow left field.
“He’s going through it right now,” Roberts said. “But for him to stick his nose in there against Raley and find a way … to just flare a ball to get a game-winning hit, he helped us win a baseball game.”
Then it was Vesia’s time.
The heart of the order was coming up for the Mets: Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez.
“Doc trusting me to get those three hitters out, those are no-joke hitters right there,” Vesia said. “So I definitely knew I needed to be on my game.”
A top-rail fastball got him a called first strike against Polanco. Then Vesia, who mostly throws fastballs and sliders, got Polanco to whiff on an outside changeup.
“I think even Will [Smith] and I surprised each other with the changeup that I threw,” Vesia said.
He went above the zone with a fastball, and Polanco chased it to complete a three-pitch strikeout.
Vesia then only needed four pitches to strike out Bichette on a slider in the dirt. Three straight sliders to Alvarez finished the job.
Vesia hopped and fist-pumped as the Dodgers (13-4) formed their handshake line. He met SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson outside of the dugout for the on-field interview and choked back tears after waving to the Cedars-Sinai suite.
“That’s what I do it for, man,” he said later in the clubhouse. “I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.”
As Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz prepared to play catch on the field before the series finale Sunday against the Texas Rangers, he hoped to be available in a save situation.
“I’m really happy with how I’m feeling today,” he said, emphasizing that he wasn’t dealing with any physical ailments.
He’d been unavailable the night before during the Dodgers’ 6-3 win. So, manager Dave Roberts went to right-hander Blake Treinen to begin the ninth, and then, after a walk and an error by third baseman Max Muncy, had left-hander Alex Vesia come in to get the last out.
Díaz’s velocity has been down this season and Friday, his fastball velocity sat at 95.5 mph and slider at 87.8, according to Statcast, 1.7 mph and 1.3 mph down from last season, respectively.
“Two miles an hour, that’s pretty significant,” Roberts said Sunday. “So I think that’s why we sort of flagged it. We wanted to have him down [Saturday] and kind of see what we get. Because a couple days ago there were a lot of throws in there too. So just trying to also, like we’ve done many times, play the long game with our guys.”
Roberts described his level of concern as “low.” Díaz also emphasized to the coaching staff that he felt good. Roberts didn’t think the velocity dip stemmed from mechanical issues.
“Today I’m still kind of yellow-lighting him,” Roberts said before the game.
Diaz described lower velocity early in the season as a theme since he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee in 2023.
“But as soon as the season starts going, I start feeling better and better and better,” Díaz said. “And my velo at the end of the year will be what I’m throwing always.”
The last two seasons, Díaz’s fastball velocity averaged 96.6 mph in March and April, compared to 97.7 in August and September, according to Statcast. His only injured-list stint in that time, for a right shoulder impingement, sidelined him for the first couple of weeks of June 2024.
Before Díaz’s three-run inning Friday against the Rangers, he had given up only one run and two hits in five appearances.
Dodgers pitcher Edwin Díaz sits in the dugout after blowing a save, giving up three runs against the Rangers on Friday.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“I didn’t have my life on my fastball and I couldn’t command my slider the way I wanted to,” Díaz said of his blown save. “I was feeling good. But I didn’t have my best stuff that day. That’s part of the game. I just flush it right away.”
His addition has helped elevate the bullpen — which owned a 3.38 earned-run average entering Sunday, an improvement from last year (4.27) — through not only his own performance but also by pushing his fellow relievers up an inning.
On the other end, Dodgers starters had thrown at least six innings in each of their last four games to minimize the tax on the bullpen.
“Everybody’s doing their job,” Díaz said. “All the guys are putting a lot of work together. We are winning a lot of close games. That’s something we want, to help this team to win.”
