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Edwin Díaz is publicly accepting what the Dodgers have already made clear — he won’t be pitching in high-leverage situations when he comes back from injury. Per the LA Times, Díaz told reporters he understands the team’s decision, saying plainly: “I haven’t done my job.” That’s about as direct an acknowledgment as you’ll get from a veteran reliever who came to Los Angeles expecting to close games.

Díaz’s tenure with the Dodgers has been a frustrating chapter for everyone involved. The right-hander arrived with the pedigree of a dominant closer — his 2022 season with the Mets was one of the best relief campaigns in modern baseball history, with 32 saves, a 1.31 ERA, and 118 strikeouts in 62 innings. That version of Díaz has been nowhere close to present in Dodger Blue. His struggles this season have been pronounced enough that the club made the call, as we covered earlier this week, that he simply won’t be returning to the closer role. Manager Dave Roberts outlined the plan publicly, and now Díaz himself has confirmed he’s on board with it — or at least resigned to it.

There’s something to respect about a player not making excuses. Díaz could have pushed back, pointed to his injury, or talked about needing time to find his groove. Instead, he owned it. He knows his numbers haven’t been good enough to warrant the trust that comes with pitching in the eighth or ninth inning of tight games. For a guy who’s been one of the most electric closers in the sport at his peak, that’s a humbling admission. But it also suggests he’s mentally in the right place to potentially rebuild some value in lower-stakes situations.

The question now is what Díaz’s path back even looks like. He’s been on the injured list and hasn’t pitched since August 17. When he does return, Roberts has already signaled he’ll be deployed in spots where the margin for error is wider — mop-up duty, low-leverage middle innings, that sort of thing. The Dodgers have Tanner Scott, Evan Phillips, and Alex Vesia handling the high-pressure moments, and that pecking order isn’t changing anytime soon. Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer have also been getting important innings lately.

For us, this is the right move handled the right way. The Dodgers can’t afford to keep running Díaz out there in close games and hoping the version from 2022 suddenly reappears. It hasn’t happened, and the postseason is getting closer by the day. If Díaz can find something in lower-leverage work and pitch his way back into trust, great. But the club isn’t going to wait around for it, and Díaz seems to understand that completely. Credit to him for not hiding behind the injury. Now he’s got to go prove he still belongs on this roster when October arrives.

Source(s): Staff (LA Times) | First reported: August 23, 2026 7:47 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers