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Dave Roberts isn’t sugarcoating it anymore. After Edwin Díaz blew his third save of the season in just eight opportunities — and his second in back-to-back nights against Arizona — Roberts told reporters he wants to see Díaz pitching with more “intensity,” per Dodger Blue. In Friday’s series opener, the Dodgers handed Díaz a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning, and he couldn’t hold it. That’s now a pattern, not an isolated event.

Díaz came to the Dodgers as one of the most electric closers in baseball, a reputation built primarily during his dominant tenure with the New York Mets. His 2022 season — 32 saves, a 1.31 ERA, 118 strikeouts in 62 innings with that unmistakable trumpet entrance at Citi Field — remains one of the great closer seasons in recent memory. But that version of Díaz has been maddeningly inconsistent since. He battled a knee injury that wiped out most of his 2023 season, and his stuff, while still nasty in flashes, hasn’t carried the same devastation on a nightly basis. His slider, which he himself pointed to after the previous blown save as being ineffective, has lacked the bite that once made it virtually unhittable. A 37.5% blown save rate this season is ugly no matter how you frame it.

Roberts calling out a player’s intensity publicly is notable. He’s typically measured and protective of his guys in press conferences — quick to deflect blame toward the collective or point to mechanical adjustments. The fact that he’s putting this on Díaz’s competitive energy, not just his pitch mix or execution, suggests the coaching staff sees something beyond the numbers. This isn’t about one bad slider or a missed location. Roberts seems to believe Díaz has the arsenal to close games but isn’t bringing the right mindset to the mound.

For the Dodgers, the closer situation is becoming a genuine concern. We got through Friday’s mess and snapped the seven-game losing streak in extras, but that doesn’t erase the fact that the ninth inning has been an adventure all season. The bullpen has pieces — and the front office clearly believes in Díaz’s talent given the investment — but talent without consistent execution in high-leverage spots doesn’t win October games. If Roberts is sending a message here, it needs to land. The Dodgers can’t keep handing leads to a closer who’s converting barely more than half his save chances and hope it sorts itself out. Something has to change, whether that’s Díaz finding another gear or the team exploring other options at the back end of the bullpen. I’ll be watching closely to see how Díaz responds in his next outing — this feels like a moment that either sparks a turnaround or accelerates a role change.

Source(s): Staff (Dodger Blue) | First reported: August 9, 2026 5:12 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers