The Los Angeles Dodgers have a problem at the moment; their de facto closer, Edwin Diaz, is not pitching very well at the moment and looks like a liability for the postseason.
The Dodgers can attribute much of their losing patch to their offense, which has struggled to generate consistent, reliable run production.
However, when the batting has done enough to win games recently, the bullpen has also been shaky in terms of delivering wins, no one more than Edwin Diaz.
On Thursday, he gave up four straight singles and allowed the Brewers to score two runs on his watch, and ended up being responsible for the third one to blow a 4-2 lead that he inherited.
This isn’t the first time the Dodgers have had a ninth-inning lead, handed Diaz the ball, and come out without it, with him blowing three save opportunities over the last week.
Diaz has had multiple chances to look as dominant as he did with the Mets for years on end, but it hasn’t clicked for him.
He had two horrible outings before having below-the-elbow surgery, came back from the injured list, and his slider has lacked movement, while his command has been shakier than usual.
Diaz has been forced to throw more fastballs, and he has needed to paint the edges of the strike zone or risk giving up hits.
This season, he has a 5.65 FIP and a 5.68 xERA, indicating things are not as bad as his 11.57 ERA makes them out to be.
With a three-peat on the line, even those underlying numbers are not good enough, and the Dodgers have reached the point of considering other options if he does not figure things out.
While Dave Roberts believes there are no other clear alternatives, saying that “none of those guys really are throwing the baseball great,” the season-wide picture paints a different story, and there are some relievers who the Dodgers can tap to form a closer committee until Diaz earns back the right to be the closer.
Here are realistic alternatives to Diaz for the Dodgers:
Tanner Scott
This one is the easiest. Scott has been a stud for the Dodgers this year, putting up a 2.25 ERA for the season so far.
He has 16 saves, serving as the de facto closer during Diaz’s surgery recovery. Sticking to Roberts’ point about how he has been pitching recently, Scott has still been getting the job done.
He has a 1.35 ERA over the last three weeks. There are some rough indicators, like his six hits and six walks with only seven strikeouts, but he has been getting out of jams that Diaz, at this point, has not.
Also, his FIP has been a steady 3.44 during that stretch, compared to Diaz’s 6.43.
Additionally, as the setup man, Scott is already close to Diaz’s leverage, and even swapping the two for a few weeks would likely help.
Edgardo Henriquez
Putting Henriquez in a higher-leverage role like closing out games is a risk, but he has earned a good deal of trust this year.
He has the stuff to be a closer, with a wicked fastball that is in the triple digits. Henriquez still has command issues, but his stuff plays up to the point where it can negate a lot of problems.
To be fair to Roberts, Henriquez hasn’t been stellar recently, allowing a 7.11 ERA over the last three weeks, including four hits and six walks, but it’s still a notable improvement over Diaz this year.
It is not unreasonable to have more faith in Henriquez, at this point, given his pitching profile and underlying metrics, than in a shaken Diaz.
At the very least, putting him in a committee would help the team.
Alex Vesia
Vesia is steady, month by month. He hovers around a 2.35 to 3.60 ERA each month, getting out of tough spots and doing so with electricity and confidence.
His run over the last three weeks hasn’t been stellar, posting a 3.52 ERA and a below-average 5.3 FIP. He has allowed four hits, six walks, and only has seven strikeouts, but Vesia gets outs on a consistent basis.
He can be trusted to hold things down; he has three saves this season as well. Once again, not to be redundant, but over this stretch he has been much better than Diaz.
Seth Halvorsen
Yes, he has only pitched in one game for the Dodgers this year, but Halvorsen has been the real deal down in Triple-A. He has not allowed a run yet, and he did the same thing with the Dodgers, coming into an extra-innings game and putting up a blank to help the Dodgers walk it off.
Halvorsen throws an electric fastball of his own, and while the command is a concern throughout his career, things have been much better in the hands of the Dodgers organization.
Even if he is not a realistic option as a closer, giving him high-leverage work isn’t crazy at this point, and it would give the team another option of a great-stuff guy.
Roki Sasaki
Finally, the best possible option at the closer role is Roki Sasaki, someone who has done it at the highest stage already in the postseason, and has some of the best stuff on the pitching staff.
He has been a good starter for the Dodgers for a long stretch at this point, but with a crowded rotation, he will likely be a high-leverage reliever again come October.
If he takes on that role later, it might make sense to have him transition at some point to get a routine down before moving there for the postseason.
Sasaki deserves to be on the rotation at this point, but with National League seeding hanging in the balance and a move pending anyway, it may be the right choice.