Worrying about a veteran closer in August is fine, but ignoring a blazing dumpster fire will ruin an entire October.
Edwin Diaz is currently breaking the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen. When a reliever walks out to the mound and routinely serves up multi-run disasters—like his recent meltdown against the Milwaukee Brewers where he coughed up three earned runs while failing to record a single out—hope is no longer a viable pitching strategy. Dave Roberts keeps talking about building confidence, protecting the player's psyche, and giving his high-priced arm time to find rust-free rhythm. That loyalty is noble. It's also completely wrong for a team with World Series aspirations.
The Reality Behind the Velocity Drop
You don't need a degree in biomechanics to spot what is going wrong. Diaz is missing his signature weapon. Over his peak years, his four-seam fastball routinely sat near the upper nineties, setting up a devastating slider that hitters simply couldn't touch. This season, the radar gun has flashed concerning dips, sometimes sitting well below his historical averages. More importantly, that slider lacks its sharp, late break. Hitters are sitting on mid-90s fastballs that don't have enough zip to blow past major league bats anymore.
When a closer loses vertical drop on his breaking ball and drops velocity on his heater, he transforms from an elite shutdown option into a high-stress hazard.
The Fallacy of Forcing Confidence
Managers love to talk about the mental architecture of the ninth inning. Roberts argues that pulling Diaz now destroys his confidence for the postseason. But what about the confidence of the other twenty-six guys in the clubhouse?
Every time Diaz takes the mound and blows a late lead, it wastes stellar outings from the rotation and forces the offense to play catch-up under suffocating pressure. Trust has to be earned through performance, not handed out based on past track records or a hefty contract. Letting Diaz pitch through his mechanical failure in games that matter intensely for National League seeding is a massive gamble.
"If we can't trust Edwin Diaz in the postseason, then we're going to have big problems," Roberts noted recently.
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True. But running him out there blindly in tight games right now is how you ensure you don't even make it comfortably to the postseason with a high seed.
What the Dodgers Must Do Instead
Los Angeles has alternative arms capable of locking down crucial frames. Shifting Diaz to lower-leverage spots—situations where the score isn't on the line—allows him to sort out his grip, fix his release point, and rebuild arm strength without burning the team's record.
Baseball is a ruthless meritocracy. August isn't spring training. It's time for the coaching staff to make the hard choice, step away from stubborn loyalty, and strip Diaz of ninth-inning duties until he proves he can actually get outs again.
Dave Roberts Explains Edwin Díaz's Struggles After Walk-Off Loss
Manager Dave Roberts breaks down the mechanical challenges and velocity concerns surrounding Edwin Díaz following a tough stretch of late-inning outings.
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