Here's why Edwin Díaz hasn't yet pitched against his former team

Dodgers fans and Mets fans alike may have been hoping for a chance to see Edwin Díaz take the mound at Dodger Stadium during this week’s series, with “Narco” blaring through the speakers as Díaz faces his former team for the first time since signing at three-year, $69 million contract with Los Angeles this offseason.

But that opportunity has yet to come, despite the first two games of the series -- 4-0 and 2-1 Dodgers wins -- lending themselves to situations in which you may typically see the closer. That’s because the Dodgers and Díaz continue to slow play some early concerns stemming from a dip in his fastball velocity.

Díaz has averaged 95.8 mph on his fastball through six appearances, down from 97.2 mph last season. He blew his first save of 2026 on Friday against the Rangers, averaging 95.5 mph or lower with the four-seamer for just the sixth time in a game (min. five pitches) in his career.

That was his most-recent outing, as manager Dave Roberts turned to Tanner Scott on Monday and Alex Vesia on Tuesday, who both pitched scoreless ninth innings.

"It's huge," Roberts said. "Obviously, we have other guys that we feel like can close out a game."

The Dodgers have held that the concern is low for Díaz, who remains “day-to-day,” as Roberts said they don’t anticipate this to be a situation that lands him on the injured list. Díaz threw a scheduled bullpen earlier on Tuesday, which also made him unavailable for the save situation.

"Talking to the training staff and the pitching staff, they wanted to see him throw a bullpen just to kind of -- you're down for four days, whatever it is, and they wanted to see a 'pen before he got into a game," Roberts said. "So we did that before. And so that's why we didn't go to him in the ninth tonight. But tomorrow, if he comes in after this 'pen, then he'll be ready to go."

Díaz has shown to be a slow starter, at least velocity-wise, in the past. Five of his six outings with a fastball averaging 95.5 mph or slower came in March or April.

If all went well Tuesday in Díaz’s bullpen -- and Roberts said he was in the mid-90s, where they wanted him to be -- perhaps he’ll be available Wednesday in the series finale, should the right situation present itself. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET in Los Angeles on ESPN.

"I felt it was benign from the outset, but we were going to be cautious, which we were," Roberts said. "He wanted to pitch tonight, which I respect and I admire. But you got to go through protocol and certain channels, and they wanted to see a bullpen."