Edwin Díaz gives up run in eighth inning

Working with a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Díaz walked the leadoff man in the ninth, struck out Tim Tawa and then gave up a walkoff homer to Ryan Waldschmidt. It’s the second homer Díaz has allowed in four appearances since coming off the IL, though it’s the first to hurt the Dodgers. He should still be safe in the closer’s role for now, but another blown save right away could change that.

Díaz’s velocity was down a bit from Wednesday, but he allowed only a single and struck out two of the four batters he faced. He’ll definitely be down Friday after this, and Tanner Scott, who set him up for a second straight game, likely will be, too. Perhaps that will result in a save chance for Evan Phillips.

The Dodgers had a 4-0 lead going until the eighth. Tanner Scott pitched that inning and allowed one run to create the save situation. Diaz then gave up a double to Dominic Canzone with one out and another to Josh Naylor with two outs before Luke Raley’s 86-mph liner to first ended the game. It’s definitely a good sign for those rostering Díaz that he got the ball in the ninth right away in his first game back. He averaged 96.9 mph on his five fastballs, which was 1.2 mph better than his April average prior to surgery. Scott is probably worth holding on to for now in most formats, but that would change if Díaz looks good the next couple of weeks.

He’s back. Díaz figures to immediately reclaim the closer role in Los Angeles with lefty Tanner Scott remaining in the mix to vulture the occasional opportunity. The 32-year-old former elite stopper’s stuff looked sharp in a handful of minor league rehab outings, piling up 11 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, while working his way back from surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in late April.

The 32-year-old stopper will make one final rehab appearance on Sunday at Triple-A Oklahoma City before returning to the Dodgers. Before landing on the injured list, Díaz had posted a 10.50 ERA, 2.33 WHIP and a 10/5 K/BB ratio over six innings in his first seven appearances with the Dodgers.

He’ll make one final minor league rehab appearance at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday and if all goes well, he’ll rejoin the Dodgers’ bullpen early next week. Tanner Scott will get a few additional days to hold down the closer’s role in his absence.

Díaz struck out two of the three batters he faced during a 19-pitch outing. He’ll make the second of back-to-back outings on Thursday. There was optimism that he would make it back to face his former team later this week, but he’s probably going to make at least one more rehab appearance over the weekend before the Dodgers decide to bring him back from the injured list. It likely has more to do with making Díaz fly across the country to New York than anything else. He’s on track to return next week.

It sounds like the plan is for Díaz to continue his rehab assignment this week, most likely with back-to-back outings, before returning to the back-end of Los Angeles’ bullpen later this week. The 32-year-old closer is coming off surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow back in early April.

Díaz has struck out six of the nine batters he’s faced, while allowing just one baserunner, across three rehab outings in the lower minors. The 32-year-old stopper figures to be close to making it back to Los Angeles’ late-inning mix and figures to take over the closing duties from Tanner Scott upon his return. There should be a definitive timeline when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts speaks to reporters at some point this weekend.

It took Scott just 11 pitches to dispatch the Yankees and earn the save here. His fastball was a tick harder than average and he made it look easy. He’s now converted nine of 10 save opportunities since the start of June and has performed like one of the best closers in the league. Just keep an eye on Edwin Díaz who’s currently out on a rehab assignment and will likely siphon off some save chances from Scott upon returning.