Author: rincon

Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer in the third inning, and Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman went deep, as well, as the Los Angeles Dodgers pummeled the Washington Nationals 13-6 on Friday.

Andy Pages also homered for the Dodgers, but it was the top of their order — which had been struggling — that really broke out. Ohtani hadn’t driven in a run all season before hitting a drive to right field that tied the game at 3-all. Betts’ two-run shot later that inning put Los Angeles ahead to stay.

It was 9-4 after Freeman’s two-run homer in the fifth. Tucker’s first home run as a member of the Dodgers was a solo shot that made it 12-4 in the seventh.

Miles Mikolas (0-2) allowed a career-high 11 runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Emmet Sheehan (1-0) gave up a three-run homer to CJ Abrams in the first, but the Nationals only scored once more in his 5 2/3 innings.

Washington lost its home opener for the fifth straight year. This was the most runs the Nationals have allowed in a home opener since moving to Washington in 2005.

Sheehan allowed four runs and seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 38 games dating back to last season. He was able to keep it going despite being just 3 for 18 entering Friday’s game. After his home run, Ohtani added a single the following inning and a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who hit an RBI double in the fifth, was taken out after striking out in the sixth. Hernandez and Tucker each had three hits.

Tyler Glasnow (0-0) starts for the Dodgers on Saturday against Washington’s Jake Irvin (1-0).

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The Guardians’ knight helmet, a purchase made by pitcher Tanner Bibee during a team bonding trip to Medieval Times, has turned into a celebratory prop in the dugout. It is worn by any Cleveland batter who hits a home run. 

Through the team’s first three games, however, only one player had the honor of getting the silver helmet ceremoniously placed atop his head — again and again and again and again. 

Last weekend, rookie Chase DeLauter joined Trevor Story as the only two players in Major League Baseball history to launch four home runs through their first three career regular-season games. 

By the sixth game of the Guardians’ season, DeLauter was still the only Cleveland player who had gone deep, so Austin Hedges and other veterans on the team began referring to their medieval headgear by a different moniker: “Chase’s homer helmet.” 

“It’s just such a cool feeling,” DeLauter told me at Dodgers Stadium earlier this week during the Guardians’ three-game series in Los Angeles. “Being one of the younger guys on the team and looking up to guys that have been here for a while and future Hall of Famers, it’s a cool feeling to just feel like you’re a part of that.” 

DeLauter, who was named AL Player of the Week, has been much more than a supporting member of the Guardians’ lineup through the season’s first days; he’s the starring attraction. The 24-year-old outfielder has produced a 1.122 OPS through his first six games and made believers of everyone in the clubhouse, including a team leader in Hedges who just celebrated his 10th year of MLB service time. 

“Twelve years ago, I think everyone saw José Ramírez walk into a room and was like, ‘That guy’s got something,’” Hedges told me. “Chase has something. He’s got something very special … and we’re not even scratching the surface of what this kid’s capable of.”

‘A Sense of Belonging’ 

Last year, the Guardians made a furious late-season comeback and won the AL Central for the second straight year despite an offense that ranked last in OPS in the American League. This winter, they added veteran slugger Rhys Hoskins on a minor-league deal but did nothing else to try to fix their offensive shortcomings. 

Improvements would have to come from within. At some point this year, 2024 top overall draft pick Travis Bazzana is expected to make his debut. As the first Australian-born player to get selected in the first round, Bazzana created buzz in Triple-A last season after having an .858 OPS in 26 games while also belting a home run for his country at the World Baseball Classic in March. 

– Who is Travis Bazzana? Australian Prospect Talks Sydney and Sushi

Already, though, another top prospect and former first-round selection is making his presence felt. Coming off three injury-shortened minor-league campaigns and a playoff cameo, DeLauter is seizing his opportunity after breaking camp with the big-league club. 

“Even talking to him about his phone blowing up and all these people contacting him, I just love how he’s going about it,” outfielder Steven Kwan told me. “He sets his boundaries, he knows his circle, he knows his people who are important to him. He’s not going out doing all these interviews and podcasts and clout-chasing stuff. He’s here to play baseball.” 

The first week of DeLauter’s regular-season MLB career began with two homers on Opening Day — including a first-inning blast off Mariners ace Logan Gilbert in his first career regular-season plate appearance — and ended with the Guardians rookie leading all of MLB in home runs. 

It’s important to specify “regular season,” because Opening Day was not DeLauter’s first time roaming the Guardians outfield. 

DeLauter made his first big-league start last October in Game 2 of the Guardians’ wild-card series against Detroit, when he became just the sixth player ever to debut in a postseason game. The decision was even more surprising considering he hadn’t played in a professional game in nearly three months after undergoing surgery to repair a hamate fracture and had only played in 138 games over three minor-league seasons following a litany of injuries. 

But Cleveland’s front office believed in his ability to handle the enormity of the moment and, more importantly, the upside of his talent. 

“I think through the obstacles and challenges and lost time, I think he learned a ton about himself and developed those routines that are now allowing him to do what he’s doing,” assistant general manager Matt Forman told me. “He’s always made great swing decisions, he’s always made good contact. When he hits the ball, he hits it really hard. He adds value in the other parts of his game, defensively and on the bases. Could he have been contributing at this level in the past? I’m not sure, but he’s put himself in position to do it now.” 

“He’s confident; he’s not arrogant,” added Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “He’s not cocky. He’s very confident in his abilities, and he was ready to be a big leaguer. We were just waiting for him to get healthy. Once he got healthy, we’re sitting there in a win-or-go-home game, it was like, yeah, he can handle this.” 

DeLauter’s first inning as a big-leaguer, however, began ominously. 

On a sunny day in Cleveland last October against the Tigers, DeLauter dropped the first ball ever hit to him in center field. 

“That was kind of my moment of like, ‘Oh, gosh, I’m going to have to really baby him and take care of him,” said Kwan, who was playing left field that day. 

But the way DeLauter responded to the mistake, and the quiet confidence he exuded in the midst of an elimination game, let Kwan know that wouldn’t be necessary. 

“Just seeing his energy, it immediately told me, ‘Oh, this kid’s going to be just fine,’” Kwan continued. “I don’t know how I would react if I dropped my first fly ball ever in the big leagues in a playoff game, but he handled it so well, with grace.” 

DeLauter followed the error by drawing an eight-pitch walk in his first career plate appearance. In the fourth, he made up for his defensive miscue by delivering a 92.3 mph strike from center field to cut down Zach McKinstry at third base and stifle a Detroit rally with a throw that flipped the momentum in an eventual Cleveland win. DeLauter’s next two at-bats ended in hard-hit outs, including a 110.8 mph lineout to center that represented the hardest-hit ball of the day for the Guardians. 

“For me, it was kind of a sense of belonging, feeling like they believe I can help the team win,” DeLauter said. “I think for any player that’s coming up, that’s a huge thing. Confidence is everything, and to have these guys have my back in that situation — especially after having an unfortunate first inning, I would say — it’s everything. That confidence does wonders.”

‘No Moment Too Big for Him’ 

Intrigue and injury have defined every stop of DeLauter’s career to this point. 

He excelled in the Cape Cod League in 2021, hitting nine homers with more walks than strikeouts in 34 games, and hit over .400 in three seasons at James Madison. But he only played in 66 college games. In his final year of college, he jumped out to a 1.404 OPS in 24 games before breaking his left foot. Shortly after getting selected 16th overall by Cleveland in 2022, another foot injury required surgery that delayed his minor-league debut until the following summer. 

In 2024, he fractured his left foot again and also dealt with toe and hamstring injuries. Last year, he suffered a core muscle injury in the spring and needed hernia surgery. He returned in May and started feeling like himself again in the summer only to then fracture the hamate bone in his right wrist in July. 

“It’s tough, man,” DeLauter told me. “I think it helps, though, going forward. The failures, the successes, the day-to-day process during the season, it’s kind of the same deal. You’re not rehabbing or dealing with body situations, but you go 0-for-4 with four punchies, and you could hit three homers the next day.”

Last Saturday in Seattle, DeLauter’s home run streak seemed destined to end after striking out three times and then grounding out in the seventh. When a final opportunity presented itself in extra innings, DeLauter fell down in the count against All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz before muscling a 97 mph fastball up and out of the zone the other way for a two-run homer to break the game open. 

“He’s just shown there’s no moment too big for him,” Vogt said. “He’s showing maturity beyond his experience, and we’ve seen that in him for years now.”

In between all the injuries, DeLauter has always produced. 

He slashed .302/.384/.504 with 20 home runs and nearly as many walks (70) as strikeouts (80) in his minor-league career, showcasing a rare combination of plate discipline and power that made him the top prospect in Cleveland’s system. Those preternatural skills  are now making him one of the most promising rookies in the sport. He’s already the No. 2 hitter in Cleveland’s lineup, sandwiched between a two-time All-Star in Kwan and a seven-time All-Star in Ramírez. 

“To have a guy like that, a real home run presence in our lineup, I think it opens up so many opportunities,” Kwan said. “And I think it makes my job a little easier. Just get on first base, and I’m in scoring position. And again, just professional at-bats. We’re going to see a ton of pitches when he’s at the plate. That helps Jose, [he] gets on base, and it just keeps rolling. It’s a contagious thing.”

Last year, Cleveland right fielders ranked last in MLB in both wins above replacement (-1.6) and OPS (.605). In a short sample this year, they rank in the top five in both categories thanks mostly to DeLauter, who said his only personal goal this year is being available for 162 games. 

That hope, however, has already been quashed. 

The entire city of Cleveland held its collective breath in the first inning Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium when DeLauter fouled a 97.6 mph fastball from Shohei Ohtani off his surgically-repaired left foot. DeLauter grounded out on the next pitch and immediately hobbled out of the game. 

Finally, though, DeLauter appears to have caught a break, not suffered one. X-rays came back negative, and he could be back in the lineup Friday for his team’s home opener against the Cubs. 

This time, his teammates should have a better idea of what to expect when he’s roaming the outfield in Cleveland. 

“He’s super hungry,” Hoskins said. “Great start, but he knows that he’s out for more.”

In “Touching Base,” we check on the top players and topics making headlines around baseball and what comes next.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Konnor Griffin endured plenty of emotions when the 19-year-old shortstop learned the Pittsburgh Pirates were calling him up to the majors just a week into the season.

Shock was not one of them.

“I’m ready for this,” Griffin said Friday, just hours before making his major-league debut against the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park.

The Pirates are betting big on it, making Griffin the first position player to arrive in the majors before his 20th birthday since Juan Soto did it with the Washington Nationals in 2018.

Just 628 days after Pittsburgh selected him with the ninth pick in the 2024 first-year player draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin found a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his name penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup against the Orioles.

On the surface, it seems fast. The reality is that Griffin checked every box — and checked every box quickly — while sprinting through the Pirates’ system. The final steps came over the last week when he hit .438 in a handful of games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly felt like Griffin was “pressing” near the end of spring training, when Griffin smashed three homers but also hit just .171. The club made Griffin one of the last cuts before the opening day roster was set. Yet rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A, made a couple of adjustments, and saw immediate results.

“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Kelly said. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”

That doesn’t make Griffin unlike the millions of kids who pick up a bat when they’re in elementary school. It’s everything that has come after it, however, that has set Griffin apart. He raced through the lower levels of the minors last year, hitting 21 homers, driving in 94 runs, and stealing 65 bases while showcasing the range to play one of the game’s most demanding defensive positions.

Yet it’s not just the tangible on-field things that won the organization over. Griffin has long carried himself with the maturity of someone far older. He married his high school sweetheart, Dendy, over the winter. And she was the first one he told after Indianapolis manager Eric Patterson called Griffin to his hotel room in Columbus early Thursday to tell him he was heading to The Show.

The next 24 hours were a blur. From the short drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for the Mississippi native’s family to make it to the ballpark that’s tucked hard against the Allegheny River in time for Friday’s first pitch.

Finally, just after noon, Griffin was able to relax. He trotted out to shortstop and took grounders, his frame and arm making him look very much the part of the role he’s been preparing for since he was 5.

Griffin’s skill set has drawn comparisons to the likes of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., heady territory for someone less than two years removed from his high school graduation. Still, he’s not getting ahead of himself.

“Today is the first day of carving out a legacy that I want to build,” he said. “And I’m ready to do that and try to be right up there with those top guys.”

Griffin is the latest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from reigning Cy Young winner Paul Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler to catcher Henry Davis.

The future that’s been talked about since general manager Ben Cherington was hired in late 2019 is finally arriving. And perhaps it’s telling how far the club has come that Griffin is joining a roster that has undergone a significant upgrade in recent months with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

“This team is loaded,” Griffin said. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”

Perhaps a very big piece. For a very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks about a contract extension that would lock him up for most of the next decade.

Griffin demurred when asked about it on Friday, though he made his intentions very clear.

“All I’m going to say is, I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he said. “This is a special place, and I’m thankful to be here.”

Perhaps most importantly because it means he can shed the “top prospect” label and stop focusing so much on his individual development and instead turn his attention to helping the Pirates make a playoff push for the first time since the mid-2010s.

“Now it’s time to take all the skills that I’ve learned,” he said, “all the adjustments I’ve made. It’s time to go put them on the field and go win some games.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

Thanks to early season scheduling weirdness, there were just four games on Thursday. Except one of those was then rained out, meaning, we had just three games. Luckily, all three delivered in very different ways, so there is plenty to pull from them for your next-day entertainment.

The Braves offense went off

The Braves struck early against the Diamondbacks, as Atlanta was up 2-1 after three innings. In the fifth, though, the Braves made it a whole lot more difficult for Arizona to keep up — they plated eight runs in that one inning, and then scored another seven before running out of innings to cause damage in. Atlanta would win, 17-2, accomplishing two things besides a plain, old W: that’s the most runs anyone has scored in a game yet in 2026, and it’s the first time since 2001 that every member of the Braves’ starting lineup managed to drive in at least one run, per MLB.

The fifth inning was a disaster for Arizona. Second baseman Ozzie Albies challenged a strike call and had it overturned to a ball, giving him a leadoff walk. Center fielder Michael Harris II would then line out, but that was the only good news for the Diamondbacks for a while. DH Dominic Smith would also walk, then shortstop Mauricio Dubon reached on a fielder’s choice that didn’t earn an out, but instead loaded the bases thanks to an error by third baseman Nolan Arenado.

Right fielder Ronald Acuna would then draw another walk, bringing in a run, and then another scored on a ground out by catcher Drake Baldwin. First baseman Matt Olson would follow with an RBI double, bringing about a pitching change for Arizona, but Kevin Ginkel didn’t have any more luck than Ryne Nelson did. Third baseman Austin Riley doubled in two runs to make it 7-1 Braves, then left fielder Mike Yastzremski walked. Albies, up for the second time in the inning, singled in a run, then Harris made up for his first out with a 2-run double.

It was 10-1 Braves at this point, and Smith would make the third, merciful out of the inning to put a stop to the scoring. At least temporarily: two more runs were scored in the sixth, then the Braves plated another five off of Diamondbacks’ catcher James McCann, who was only on the mound because it was already 12-1 at that point and Arizona had just three outs left to score another 11.

Hey, it wasn’t all Braves, all the time. Diamondbacks’ left fielder Jordan Lawlar hit his first MLB home run in the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1 — this is Lawlar’s third season with time in the majors, but this is the first time he’s been playing like someone who can stick.

Baldwin makes Braves’ history

While Drake Baldwin might have gone just 1-for-5 on the night, he was actually on base multiple times — his ground out in the fifth forced someone else to go back to the dugout, not him, and he grounded into a force out in the sixth, as well. He scored each time he got on.

He just needed the first of those to match a bit of Braves’ history, however, as it gave him a run scored in each of Atlanta’s first seven games of the season. The last time that happened? In 1957, when a guy named Henry Aaron pulled it off. 

To put it another way, they weren’t even the Atlanta Braves back then, but still playing in Milwaukee. That’s some pretty good company for Baldwin to keep. Baldwin, by the way, is batting .286/.375/.643 with an NL-leading three homers and 18 total bases to start the year, even with the 1-for-5 showing on Thursday. A pretty great start for following up on an impressive rookie campaign, that.

Ouch

Baseball isn’t meant to be a contact sport, but sometimes it still plays out that way. Ask Kody Clemens, Twins first baseman, about that one. On a slide into second on a stolen base attempt in the fifth, Clemens’ face smashed right into the ground before shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. could apply the tag, and he ended up cutting his nose. 

It’s difficult to see at full speed — it actually looks from the original angle like it maybe happened when Witt tagged him out — but the slowed down view from another angle shows Clemens taking “head-first slide” a bit too literally, knocking his helmet off and cutting himself up because of it.

He stayed in the game, though, so he was fine besides some blood. Well, besides some blood and getting called out on a challenge by the Royals, anyway. Hey, in the end, the Twins won. So even though this play didn’t work out for Clemens or his face, he still came out ahead. 

That’s some wind

Also in Kansas City on Thursday? Wind. Just so much wind. The below clip is not of a camera operator forgetting how to do their job, but of them desperately trying to keep a camera caught in high-velocity winds steady.

Not only was there the wind to contend with, but the fountains out in center field at Kauffman Stadium had their waters blown all over the place, including all over the camera lens.

It got to the point that Minnesota’s broadcast of the game switched to the cameras behind home plate to continue to show what was going on during at-bats — the lenses out in center were getting soaked and had to be wiped, so it’s not like the traditional view was, at that moment, better than the behind-the-plate one.

At least Minnesota and Kansas City got to play at all, though — the White Sox had to delay their home opener against the Blue Jays to Friday, which is why there were just the three games last night.

A big game for Susac

Giants’ catcher Daniel Susac made his first-ever start on Thursday, spelling starting catcher Patrick Bailey behind the plate in the series opener against the Mets. The 24-year-old rookie — and nearly 25 — had appeared in one game already this season, but didn’t come to the plate. Here, he made the most of this first opportunity: Susac went 3-for-3 with a walk. Even better, his family was in the stands to see the whole thing.

What’s a little funny is that Susac didn’t drive in a run or get driven in at all — well, okay, that sort of thing probably feels pretty standard to Giants’ fans, the whole stranding runners thing, but on Thursday, at least, it didn’t hurt them. Susac succeeded at the plate again and again, and even though it happened seemingly adjacent to the rest of San Francisco’s performance instead of as part of it, the Giants still ended up winning 7-2, as six other players recorded an RBI and five scored runs.

One of those? Devers

Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers was one of those other players, as he went deep in the bottom of the sixth to put the Giants up 7-2 in the first place. It was Devers’ first dinger of the year, in what has been a solid but not outstanding start.

But hey, better than last year’s slow start, right? 

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays‘ 2025 season ended with them coming incredibly close to winning the World Series. 

While it fell short against the Dodgers last November, as of April, Toronto is still near the top of the oddsboard as a contender to win the American League and win it all. 

With that, there are a couple of other Blue Jays betting markets that aren’t directly related to the ballclub’s on-field success, including the market for when the roof on the Rogers Centre will open for the first time this season and then another for the number of Loonie Dogs sold at the stadium.

Let’s dive into those odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of April 3.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

First series with the roof open at Rogers Centre

April 6-8 
Dodgers series: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)

April 10-12
Twins series: +430 (bet $10 to win $53 total)

April 24-26 
Guardians series +300 (bet $10 to win $40 total)

April 27-29
Red Sox series: +280 (bet $10 to win $38 total)

May 8-10
Angels series: +195 (bet $10 to win $29.50 total)

May 11-13
Rays series: +310 (bet $10 to win $41 total)

May 22-24
Pirates series: +430 (bet $10 to win $53 total)

May 25-27 
Marlins series: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)

May 28 or later: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)

Total Loonie Dogs sold at Rogers Centre

900,001 or more: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
850,001-900,000: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
800,001-850,000: +470 (bet $10 to win $57 total)
750,001-800,000: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
700,001-750,000: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
650,001-700,000: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
600,001-650,000: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)
600,000 and less: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)

Here’s what to know about each oddsboard:

Rogers Centre: Still referred to by many as SkyDome, its original name, the Rogers Centre is widely recognized as the sports and entertainment venue that pioneered retractable domes. But because Toronto winters can be brutal, the dome usually doesn’t open up until May. Some factors that contribute to when the facility retracts the stadium cover are wind speed, outdoor temperatures and humidity. It takes more than 23 minutes to fully open the dome, which is powered by 76 motors.

Loonie Dogs: In 2025, 826,308 of these five-inch, fan favorites were sold at Rogers Centre. To elevate the ballpark fan experience, Loonie Dogs Night presented by Schneiders happens every Tuesday when the Blue Jays are playing at home and the dogs cost $1 Canadian. Will fans gobble up more Loonies in 2026 than they did in 2025?

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) — Before Teoscar Hernandez ran out to patrol left field in the ninth inning last Friday night, he lingered in the dugout a while longer than usual. The game was almost over, but the show was about to begin.

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In the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks, Kyle Tucker roped a go-ahead single to put the concert in motion, setting the scene for the debut of the team’s other major offseason expenditure. Hernández wanted a front-row seat to take in the spectacle as closer Edwin Diaz jogged in from Dodger Stadium’s home bullpen for the first time. 

“Everyone was waiting for that moment,” Hernández said. “I wanted to watch everything — him coming out of the bullpen, getting all the way to the mound.”

Díaz took his first step onto the newly-dubbed Uniqlo Field, patted his glove a couple times, then watched the Dodger Stadium fade into darkness as the bass in the sound system began to thump. In the left-field pavilion, trumpeter Tatiana Tate began to play “Narco,” the walk-out song that Díaz and musician Timmy Trumpet made famous in Queens. The live rendition in Los Angeles was a surprise touch that Díaz wasn’t expecting, but it added to the pageantry of the occasion. 

“It was bumping out there,” Tucker said.

Everybody, Hernández said, was surprised this actually became a reality. No one thought the three-time All-Star closer would leave New York.

But after a year in which the Dodgers’ unreliable bullpen was nearly their undoing, the back-to-back champs stayed persistent. And when they offered a few million dollars more than the Mets, giving Díaz three years and $69 million — the largest annual salary ever for a reliever — it was enough to entice the two-time National League Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year to leave the place he had called home for the last seven years. 

In Los Angeles, Díaz felt he had the best chance to win his first championship. He had only heard great things about the organization from his brother, Alexis, who made nine appearances for the Dodgers in 2025, and fellow Puerto Rico native Kiké Hernández, a fan favorite who now holds the Dodgers’ franchise record for most postseason games played. 

But even Dave Roberts didn’t think there was a chance of landing Díaz entering the winter. 

The Dodgers manager grew more optimistic while on vacation in early December, when the front office reached out to him about joining in on a call with Díaz. 

“We talked for probably, I’d say, 45 minutes on a Zoom,” Roberts recalled. “Afterwards, I told my wife, I go, ‘We’re gonna get him.’ I felt really good about it.’” 

Why was Roberts convinced?

“It was just kind of selling ourselves and talking about how well we value him and the culture and the team and ownership,” Roberts said. “If you really want to win a championship, this is the place to be. Obviously talked to his wife and convinced her that moving West was a good decision. Yeah, and I also think that his brother being here last year was a big help. Having him here as a call-up from the minors, and us treating him like a superstar, I think that kind of helped the decision and comfort going forward.” 

Fast-forward three months, and everything the Dodgers envisioned was playing out as planned.

On Friday afternoon, the Dodgers received their 2025 World Series rings. Díaz watched some of the ceremony from the dugout before retreating to the clubhouse to prepare for the game that night. If he wanted any extra motivation before his first performance for his new team, that was as good as any. 

“My goal for this year is being in that moment next year,” Díaz said. “I want to help this team to win. I know if this team stays healthy, we can do it again.” 

Hours later, the two players the Dodgers brought in to try to lift their chances of hoisting a World Series trophy for a third straight season — a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in more than a quarter-century — played their roles to perfection. Tucker, sandwiched between Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts at the top of one of the most decorated lineups ever constructed, reached base twice and knocked in the winning run. Díaz surrendered a walk and nothing more, striking out two batters in a scoreless ninth to secure his 254th save and first as a Dodger. 

One night later, Diaz entered again with a one-run lead again and promptly retired all three batters he faced to finish a sweep of the Diamondbacks. Stability in the late innings was a luxury these Dodgers weren’t accustomed to last year, when they ranked 21st in bullpen ERA, blew the ninth-most saves in the sport, saw the first year of Tanner Scott’s four-year, $72 million deal go up in flames and were forced to use starters in relief to carry them through October. 

Now, in a scary reality for the rest of the league as the Dodgers embrace their status as baseball villains, the back end of the Dodgers’ bullpen looks daunting. Not only does Díaz give the Dodgers the shutdown closer they lacked, but Scott also appears to be finding his form again in a lower-leverage role.

Roberts intimated this winter that Scott never felt right physically last season and believed the left-hander’s 2025 season, during which he went 1-4 with a 4.74 ERA, was an “outlier year.” At one point six months ago, at his lowest point after one of his 10 blown saves, Scott lamented that baseball hated him. By trying to be too perfect, he thought he got away from his strengths. He was missing his spots consistently. There were mechanical issues involved, too. The struggles became mentally exhausting. 

“I threw too many balls in the zone and paid for it a lot,” Scott said. “It was terrible.” 

But a new year brings a fresh slate. 

It’s a short sample, but Scott has retired seven of the eight batters he has faced in 2026, including three by strikeout, in three scoreless appearances. 

“There’s a physical component which certainly feels better,” Roberts told me in a scrum. “There’s a mental component where it’s a new year.”

Scott’s fastball, which yielded nine home runs last season, is getting the swing-and-miss that wasn’t there a year ago when the pitch too often found the middle of the plate. His slider is coming in a tick harder, and though he told me that he hasn’t changed the grip on the pitch, he has done a lot of work with Dodgers pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness and bullpen coach Josh Bard to get the slider in a place where he trusts it. 

“Just going back to what I did in ‘23 and ‘24 and seeing the success I had and what I was doing with it,” Scott told me. “I kind of got away from what I was doing really good the previous two years. Baseball’s a grind. You’ve got to put in the time, and it’s paying off. But we’ve got to keep going.” 

Added Roberts: “The slider’s just a better pitch this year than it ever was last year.”

Scott is careful not to get too far ahead of himself, especially given how last year went, but he’ll take the small wins. Everything, Scott said, feels good right now. It’s evident both in his presence on the mound and in the  “funky swings,” as Roberts described them, that he’s generating. 

“I think even with Tanner, who’s as good as anyone at washing the slate clean, you’ve still got to have success,” Roberts said. “When you’re not having success, it’s like, ‘Here we go again’ kind of mindset. So for him to get off to a good start, it’s important.” 

This time, the weight of finishing games has been lifted. The Dodgers have not had a single closer record more than 25 saves since Kenley Jansen departed after the 2021 season. The primary ninth-inning option has been a revolving door since then, from Craig Kimbrel in 2022 to Evan Phillips in 2023 and 2024 to Scott last season. 

With Diaz now cemented as the team’s shutdown closer, the Dodgers’ manager can deploy Scott, Alex Vesia and his other high-leverage options in more advantageous lanes as he sees fit in the innings prior. 

“It’s huge,” Roberts said. “I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen, but when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think it frees up other guys, myself included, not having to worry about matchups for the ninth. I think that’s freeing for me and allows for kind of getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”

Bullpen success can be volatile, but at least in the early going, the Dodgers’ most glaring weakness from last year’s team now looks like one of their many strengths — and that’s before the expected returns later this year of relievers Phillips, Brock Stewart and Brusdar Graterol. 

The top four hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup — Ohtani, Tucker, Betts and Freddie Freeman — are batting a combined .192 through five games, yet the Dodgers are 4-1 behind an elite rotation and a fortified bullpen that has started the year 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA and a new closer who has converted each of his first two save opportunities.

Dîaz allowed his first run of the season in his third appearance Tuesday night, but Roberts attributed the result to the rainy conditions and a water-soaked mound. Díaz still rebounded to comfortably finish off the Dodgers’ win against the Guardians. 

The fact he’s there at all is still an almost unbelievable reality for those around him. 

“I just know I gotta keep doing my job,” Díaz said, “and hear the trumpets here in Dodger Stadium.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

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