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Despite Edwin Díaz blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning against Milwaukee on Wednesday night, the Dodgers are sticking with him as their closer, per Dodger Blue. It was Díaz’s seventh appearance since the Dodgers acquired him and his second blown save in that stretch — and this one stung, turning a 4-2 lead into a loss that would have pulled the Dodgers even with the Brewers for the best record in the National League.

Díaz, now 32, came to the Dodgers with a résumé that demands a long leash. He was one of the most dominant closers in baseball during his time with the Mets, earning All-Star honors and posting a season in 2022 where he struck out 118 batters in 62 innings with a 1.31 ERA — numbers that looked almost fictional for a reliever. But his time in New York ended on a downturn, and his stuff hasn’t consistently been the weapon it once was. The fastball velocity is still there, but the command has been shaky, and hitters have looked less overwhelmed than they used to. Seven appearances is a small sample, and the Dodgers knew they weren’t getting peak Díaz when they brought him in. But a blown save that flips a statement game into a loss is the kind of moment that puts pressure on even the longest leash.

The decision to keep Díaz in the ninth says a lot about where the Dodgers stand with their bullpen options right now. With Blake Treinen still working his way back through rehab, the back end of the bullpen doesn’t have an obvious alternative who screams ninth-inning reliability. The Dodgers have cobbled together high-leverage innings from various arms all season, and Roberts clearly believes Díaz’s ceiling — when he’s right — is higher than anything else available. That’s a reasonable bet, even if Wednesday’s result made it a tough one to stomach.

I get the logic here. You don’t acquire a pitcher with Díaz’s track record and yank him after a couple of rough outings. The stuff is still electric when it’s on, and closers blow saves — it happens. But the margin for error in August is thinner than it was in May. The Dodgers were three outs from a signature win that would have tied them atop the NL, and instead they’re waking up today a game back. If Díaz can settle in and find the consistency the Dodgers need, this decision will look smart. If the blown saves keep piling up, Roberts will have to revisit this sooner than he’d like.

For now, Díaz gets the ball in the ninth. The Dodgers are betting on talent and track record over a small-sample stumble. We’ve seen this front office operate this way before — they trust their evaluations and give players room to figure it out. That approach has mostly worked. But the next few weeks will tell us whether Díaz can reward that trust or whether the bullpen puzzle needs another solution before October.

Source(s): Staff (Dodger Blue) | First reported: August 14, 2026 8:05 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers