LOS ANGELES — Edwin Diaz is out of explanations and manager Dave Roberts almost is out of patience after the latest untimely meltdown by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ problematic bullpen.
The Dodgers took a two-run lead into the ninth inning with Diaz, the highest-paid closer in baseball, on the mound. The defending champions left one inning later with a 5-4 loss to the NL-leading Milwaukee Brewers, who wreaked havoc on Los Angeles’ already beleaguered relief corps with a clutch three-run, five-hit rally.
Diaz (2-2) blew a save for the third time in his last four appearances for the Dodgers, giving up four consecutive one-out singles and three runs.
The normally imperturbable Roberts clearly was annoyed after this brutal loss in a game that would have pulled the Dodgers even with the Brewers atop the National League standings. Instead, Los Angeles has lost nine of 13.
When Roberts was asked whether Diaz would be allowed to continue to work through his struggles as the closer, Roberts snapped: “Give me another option.”
“I can’t just say, ‘Change (Diaz) to low leverage,’” Roberts added. “I have to have other options, and to be quite honest, none of those guys really have thrown the baseball great. That’s just kind of the way it is.”
That’s the dilemma facing Roberts, whose bullpen doesn’t currently contain a reliever he completely trusts. While the Dodgers’ overall bullpen statistics glaringly aren’t bad, Diaz’s struggles and a series of poor performances in recent high-leverage situations have clearly taxed Roberts’ problem-solving ability.
“You look back at the last week, and guys have struggled,” Roberts said. “I’m not going to sit here and play carousel and chase my tail ... when a guy is struggling, and then when he doesn’t pitch well, then it’s, ‘Why are you pitching him?’ I don’t do that. Everyone has got a role. They all have jobs to do, and they all have to do their job. That’s it.”
The trumpets that herald Diaz’s entrance into games have sounded more like a dirge lately while his ERA ballooned to 11.57. The three-time All-Star and longtime Mets closer frequently has been awful since returning late in July from a three-month absence for elbow surgery, giving up eight runs and 12 hits in only seven appearances.
“It’s frustrating, because I know my ability,” Diaz said. “I know what I can do on the mound. To not be able to do it (stinks). I’ve just got to come tomorrow and try to keep getting better.”
Diaz realizes he could be in danger of losing his job as the Dodgers’ closer.
“I’ve just got to see what they want to do,” he said. “I want to do the best thing for the team. At the end of the day, if they give me the ball in the ninth, I will try to do my job. If they give me the ball in another inning, I will try to do my job. Got to get better, be consistent.”
Despite Roberts’ protestations, the clearest option to replace Diaz is left-hander Tanner Scott, who earned 16 saves this season before Diaz returned. But Scott’s miserable 2025 season is still top of many minds in Los Angeles, and his 2026 performance has mildly declined in recent weeks.
Roberts realizes he could consider a closer-by-committee plan, but that’s also difficult when any choice will be concerning.
“We’ve got to get other guys on track to even have that be even a valid conversation, to be honest with you,” Roberts said.
The bullpen’s struggles are magnified because the Dodgers’ talent-laden lineup hasn’t blown out anyone in weeks. Los Angeles has won just two games by more than two runs since July 19, repeatedly putting its relievers into perilous situations.
The Dodgers are trying to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series, and their fans still remember their team barely scraping through last season with a patchwork bullpen that finished 21st in the majors in ERA. In the postseason, LA improbably converted rookie starter Roki Sasaki into a closer.
Diaz was supposed to be the foundation of a return to a strong bullpen for the Dodgers, who hadn’t had a standout closer for years. Instead, he’s the central figure in another mess in mid-August.
Roberts is frustrated, but he’s also got perspective.
“I know people don’t want to hear it, but it’s baseball,” Roberts said. “Offenses go in lulls, and the bullpens go in lulls, and sometimes you get in a run where the starting pitching isn’t there. It is what happens, and it just doesn’t feel good. And it certainly is more highlighted when the ’pen doesn’t throw the baseball well, because it costs you games.”