Edwin Díaz Not Guaranteed Spot On Dodgers’ Playoff Roster

Edwin Díaz’s first season in Dodger blue has thus far gone about as poorly as possible. The three-time All-Star has had multiple injured list stints and been blitzed for 18 runs in 13 2/3 innings. He has blown four saves in 11 attempts. Díaz has spent the last month on the injured list with what the Dodgers termed neck inflammation. That gave them the ability to send him to Triple-A Oklahoma City for up to 20 days on a rehab assignment. The team obviously hoped he’d look closer to his previous self in the lead-in to October, but Díaz’s rehab stint has been a disaster. The veteran righty has made four appearances with OKC over the last eight days. He worked around a walk to toss a scoreless inning in his first game. Díaz walked two of four batters faced and allowed a run three days later. He pitched around another walk and a hit to get through a scoreless inning the next day. Díaz got a couple days off and returned to the mound on Sunday, when he had a meltdown inning. He only retired two of eight opponents against Houston’s Triple-A team. Díaz walked three batters, plunked another, and gave up two hits. He was charged with five runs after Griff McGarry allowed a couple inherited runners to score when Díaz couldn’t escape the inning. He has walked or hit eight of 21 opponents while recording 10 total outs. The struggles have reached a point that it’s no longer a lock that Díaz will be on the playoff roster. “We have to go with our best pitchers, as far as performance, talent, all that stuff,” manager Dave Roberts acknowledged this evening (links via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register). “So my bet is that he will be (on the roster). But again, there’s got to be some kind of evidence or something for us, again, to sort of bet on. And so my bet is yes, but we still got to see something.” Díaz will remain on the rehab stint and pitch again with OKC on Wednesday. Roberts said the team will “be watching closely” to gauge his form. The Triple-A regular season ends on Sunday (though OKC will make the playoffs), and there’s one additional week on the big league calendar. It would’ve been unfathomable to imagine Díaz as a potential healthy scratch in the playoffs entering the season. L.A. signed him to a record-setting reliever salary on his three-year, $69MM free agent contract. They hoped to shore up the ninth inning after needing Roki Sasaki to serve as an unexpected closer during last year’s World Series run. Tanner Scott now leads a committee approach in the ninth inning. Díaz would need a complete turnaround to be entrusted with any save opportunities in October. The Dodgers don’t have a ton of reliable right-handed options even for middle relief or setup work, so that’s where Díaz still has a chance to factor. The right-handed relief depth took another hit with Edgardo Henriquez landing on the injured list this evening. The hardest thrower in the Dodger bullpen, Henriquez is battling lower back discomfort. His regular season is over, though he’d be eligible to return for the beginning of the playoffs. Henriquez has fired 60 innings of 2.85 ERA ball with a 29% strikeout rate and would be a lock for the postseason roster if healthy. Scott, Alex Vesia, Brock Stewart, Jack Dreyer, Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen seem comfortably in the playoff bullpen — presuming they all remain healthy over the next two weeks. Sasaki, working back from a blister issue, is probably ticketed for the playoff bullpen for a second straight year. Deadline pickup Kris Bubic could be activated for his team debut on Wednesday and would have a few chances to try to pitch his way onto the roster. Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, Bobby Miller, Seth Halvorsen, Paul Gervase and Kyle Hurt could battle Díaz for the last couple spots. Will Klein and Jake Cousins are trying to work back from injury. Teams can carry 13 pitchers on their playoff rosters, which are reset every round. The Dodgers are 2.5 games clear of the Braves for the #2 seed, which would secure a first-round bye and an automatic trip to the Division Series.