The Dodgers recalled left-hander Jake Eder and put Edwin Díaz on the 15-day injured list with right elbow loose bodies, a move that will send the closer to surgery and likely sideline him for about three months.
Díaz is expected back in the second half of the season, with a return timeline around the All-Star break. The injury ends a short stretch in which he had been trying to work through diminished velocity and uneven results, and it leaves the Dodgers looking for saves elsewhere while he is out.
That is a costly turn for a pitcher the Dodgers signed to a three-year, $69 million deal this offseason. Díaz entered the year after a dominant 2025 season in which he threw 66 1/3 innings with a 1.63 earned run average, a 38% strikeout rate, an 8% walk rate and a 48.4% ground ball rate, but his fastball has averaged 95.7 miles per hour so far this year, down from 97.2 miles per hour last year.
The warning signs were there before the injured-list move. On April 10, Díaz entered a 7-4 game in the ninth inning and gave up three runs as the Rangers tied it, then did not pitch in official game action for more than a week after that outing. Last night at Coors Field, he came in with the Dodgers down 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth, allowed three hits and a walk, and left without recording an out.
The Dodgers have been managing injuries with a long view, trying to keep players healthy for the postseason rather than forcing them through pain now. That approach may preserve their bigger picture, but it also pushes more late-game responsibility onto Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen, with the trade deadline looming on August 3rd and the bullpen picture already shifting.
