Dodgers far from worried about Díaz's velo after blown save
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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers have raved about how Edwin Díaz has anchored the back end of the bullpen, but their closer hit his first bump in the road with his new team on Friday night.
Díaz could not hold onto a three-run lead, blowing his first save as a Dodger before Max Muncy walked off the Rangers with his third home run of the game, picking up his closer in an 8-7 victory to open the series. One potentially troubling trend continued: Díaz's velocity was down.
Entering Friday, Díaz had converted four saves in five outings, allowing one earned run when he pitched on a rare rainy evening at Dodger Stadium on March 31. Even then, he wasn't throwing close to as hard as he did last season. Díaz has averaged 95.8 mph with his fastball this year, down from 97.2 mph last year.
"Velo down. I don't think he really finished his slider," manager Dave Roberts said. "I don't know what was behind that, but there's something to it because both of those pitches were down tonight."
Díaz's outing began with what was initially a strikeout looking of Joc Pederson, who successfully challenged the called third strike with ABS. Pederson singled, and Evan Carter followed by hitting a four-seamer that came in on his hands out to the bleachers in right-center, out of reach of a leaping Kyle Tucker.
After that, Díaz retired his next two batters before leaving a first-pitch slider over the middle of the plate for nine-hole hitter Josh Jung, who singled. That turned over the lineup, and after intentionally walking Brandon Nimmo, Díaz surrendered the game-tying run on an RBI single by Ezequiel Duran.
Díaz got out of the top of the ninth by striking out Corey Seager, who had hit a three-run homer off Tyler Glasnow earlier in the game.
For Díaz, it was only the sixth time in his career that he had averaged 95.5 mph or lower with his four-seamer in a game (min. five pitches). Five of those six occurrences came in March or April, which is part of why the Dodgers are not overly concerned about their closer's velocity.
"I was talking to some of the [pitching coaches], and they say that perennially, that's what he does," Roberts said. "Starts a little slower and then the velocity starts to creep up. So not too much of a concern."
The data backs that up. Since 2024 -- when he returned to big league action following a year-long absence due to right knee surgery -- Díaz's average fastball velocity has been at its lowest in March/April (96.4 mph). In the five months that follow, his fastball has ticked up to 97 mph.
The lower fastball velocity early in the season certainly hasn't prevented Díaz from being one of the most dominant closers in baseball. From 2024-25, he posted a 2.48 ERA with 48 saves in 116 appearances.
The body of work gives the Dodgers several reasons not to overreact to an early blown save from the closer they signed to a three-year, $69 million contract this past offseason. And perhaps no one understands that better than the hero from Friday night, who entered the day as a slow starter and finished it on a roll.
"It's baseball. It happens. We've all been there," Muncy said. "We know Edwin's going to have 50-plus saves for us this year."