{"id":125599,"date":"2026-07-11T14:52:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=125599"},"modified":"2026-07-11T14:52:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:52:31","slug":"dodgers-designated-closer-on-the-road-to-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/11\/dodgers-designated-closer-on-the-road-to-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Designated Closer To Begin Rehab Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers got a dose of good news this morning. Right-handed reliever <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=diazed04,diazed03,diaz--005edw&amp;search=Edwin+D\u00edaz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edwin Diaz<\/a> is<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/20\/dodgers-place-edwin-diaz-on-injured-list\/\" target=\"_self\"> scheduled<\/a> to start a rehab assignment today, according to an announcement by their Single-A affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers. Diaz has been out since April, recovering from elbow surgery. The closer&#8217;s last bullpen session with the team was Wednesday, and he expressed excitement about his return.<\/p>\n<h2>Dodgers Designated Closer To Begin Rehab Assignment<\/h2>\n<h3><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/fb61ae0\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2795x1863+0+0\/resize\/2000x1333!\/quality\/75\/?url=https:%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F36%2F0d%2Faf25044749ffb7362bb914d359fd%2F1547395-sp-mlb-dodgers-diamondbacks-10-gmf.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin D\u00edaz establishing his place in revitalized Dodgers bullpen - Los ...\" \/>An Abbreviated Dodger Tenure<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/02135128\/GettyImages-2269322084-1024x683.jpg?width=1920&amp;quality=70&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Edwin Diaz\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\udfba START THE TRUMPETS ONTARIO! EDWIN DIAZ HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE TOWER BUZZERS \ud83c\udfba<\/p>\n<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers will have RHP <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SugarDiaz39?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@sugardiaz39<\/a> on a rehabilitation assignment with the Ontario Tower Buzzers on Saturday, July 11th. Diaz is set to appear out of the bullpen in the matchup. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aT7UiOjwfo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/aT7UiOjwfo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ontario Tower Buzzers (@towerbuzzers) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/towerbuzzers\/status\/2075976734286242179?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 11, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/fb61ae0\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2795x1863+0+0\/resize\/2000x1333!\/quality\/75\/?url=https:%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F36%2F0d%2Faf25044749ffb7362bb914d359fd%2F1547395-sp-mlb-dodgers-diamondbacks-10-gmf.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin D\u00edaz establishing his place in revitalized Dodgers bullpen - Los ...\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/fb61ae0\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2795x1863+0+0\/resize\/2000x1333!\/quality\/75\/?url=https:%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F36%2F0d%2Faf25044749ffb7362bb914d359fd%2F1547395-sp-mlb-dodgers-diamondbacks-10-gmf.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin D\u00edaz establishing his place in revitalized Dodgers bullpen - Los ...\" \/>Diaz and the Dodgers made headlines in the offseason when they agreed to a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/12\/09\/report-dodgers-sign-free-agent-closer-edwin-diaz\/\" target=\"_self\">lucrative deal.<\/a> Los Angeles appeared to be on the outside looking in when it came to landing the preeminent closer. However, thanks to some nifty negotiations and Diaz&#8217;s drive to win, the trumpets now blow in Los Angeles. The dominant reliever seemed to be himself the first few outings.<\/p>\n<p>However, by the middle of April, Diaz was having problems with his control. The walks were uncharacteristically up, and the velocity on his fastball was down. A trend that persisted despite an extended period of rest. The decline was more pronounced given that Diaz relies on a two-pitch mix. The closer&#8217;s Earned Run Average is a casualty of this process as it has precipitously increased to 10.50<\/p>\n<h3>Under the Knife<\/h3>\n<p>Diaz was soon diagnosed with &#8220;floating bodies&#8221; in his elbow and had a surgical procedure to remove them. Tonight, will be the closer&#8217;s first foray in live game action in over three months. If all goes well, the timeline could proceed quickly. The final box, presumably to be checked, will be back-to-back outings. The Dodgers use that as an indicator of a reliever&#8217;s readiness to return.<\/p>\n<h3>Bolstering the Bullpen<\/h3>\n<p>The Dodgers had a shortage of effective relievers last season; Diaz was signed to alleviate that issue. Unfortunately, with his absence, the problem rears its head occasionally. Blake Treinen struggled for much of the season before being sidelined with inflammation. <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hurtky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Hurt<\/a> has been up and down this season with his control. Fortunately, <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/henried01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edgardo Henriquez<\/a> has stepped into the void in recent days, and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/scottta01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tanner Scott<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/26\/dodgers-surprises-early-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">has looked like his old filthy self <\/a>for much of the year.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Dodgers&#8217; comfort level has to rise when their designated closer returns.<\/p>\n<p><span>Main Photo Credits: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers got a dose of good news this morning. Right-handed reliever Edwin Diaz is scheduled to start a rehab assignment today, according to an announcement by their Single-A affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers. Diaz has been out since April, recovering from elbow surgery. The closer&#8217;s last bullpen session with the team was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":125618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071],"tags":[991,1931,5660],"class_list":["post-125599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","tag-blake-treinen","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-tanner-scott"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125599"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125619,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125599\/revisions\/125619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}