Struggling mightily since coming off the injured list late last month, Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz returned to the IL with a neck injury on Tuesday.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Diaz flew back to Los Angeles and will be examined on Wednesday. Diaz felt pain in his neck during Monday’s road game against the Colorado Rockies.
Entering with a nine-run lead in the ninth, Diaz allowed three runs before stranding two runners in scoring position in an 11-5 victory.
Roberts said he doesn’t believe the injury is overly serious.
“I don’t see a situation where he would be out for the year,” Roberts told reporters. “… We were not seeing any specific issues outside of the performance.”
Right-hander Emmet Sheehan was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to provide bullpen depth. He was 4-8 with a 5.29 ERA in 20 starts for the Dodgers before a brief demotion to the minors.
“I’m just trying to get back to being me from last year and years prior,” Sheehan told reporters before the game in Denver. “… It sucks to not be here and contribute to the team. At the same time, I knew I had some stuff to figure out and I knew I wasn’t doing us any good by being up here and pitching bad.”
Diaz, 32, returned from the 60-day IL on July 29 and has posted a 12.91 ERA, allowing 11 earned runs on 16 hits over nine games (7 2/3 innings) while blowing three of six save chances.
The three-time All-Star right-hander has endured a tough season, making only seven appearances before undergoing surgery on loose bodies in his throwing elbow in April.
Despite the recent struggles, which have also included nine earned runs allowed over five innings since Aug. 7, Diaz did not lose the closer role. In fact, Roberts backed the veteran hurler, who is in the first year of a three-year, $69 million contract.
“That’s going to help with my confidence, 100%,” Diaz told The Athletic on Sunday. “They keep trusting me. If it was in another position, maybe they put another guy, or give me a break. But they keep trusting me and give me the ball.”
Per The Athletic, the Dodgers feel they have detected a mechanical flaw due to a lower arm angle than in previous seasons, but Diaz’s issues continued in Monday’s home win over the last-place Rockies.
Diaz is hardly the only member of the Dodgers scuffling of late, as the team lost a four-game set against fellow NL powerhouse Milwaukee over the weekend and is 6-10 this month.
Roberts said that left-hander Tanner Scott will return to the closer’s role. Scott has 16 saves in 18 opportunities and is 1-3 with a 2.20 ERA.
Overall this season, Diaz is 2-2 with an 11.85 ERA in 13 2/3 innings and seven saves in 11 chances. He has 19 strikeouts, 10 walks and a career-worst 2.56 WHIP.
In 10 seasons with the Seattle Mariners (2016-18), New York Mets (2019-25) and Dodgers, Diaz is 30-38 with a 3.06 ERA and 260 saves in 306 chances, with 858 strikeouts, 192 walks and a 1.08 WHIP.
–Field Level Media
