By Darragh McDonald | at April 20, 2026 11:58pm CDT
The Dodgers announced that right-hander Edwin Díaz has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow loose bodies. A subsequent announcement said that he will have surgery to address the issue and is expected to return in the second half of the season. Reportedly, he’ll miss about three months, which will put him in line for a return sometime around the All-Star break. Left-hander Jake Eder has been recalled to take Díaz’s spot on the active roster.
The status of Díaz has been a bit of a mystery for a while now, as he has struggled for the Dodgers while pitching with diminished velocity. His fastball has averaged 95.7 miles per hour so far this year, a notable drop from his 97.2 mph average last year. His results were fine through five outings but his sixth, on April 10th, was rough. He entered a 7-4 game in the ninth and surrendered three runs, allowing the Rangers to tie it up.
The Dodgers were able to walk that game off in the bottom of the ninth but Díaz became a question mark. He didn’t pitch in official game action for over a week after that, even though the Dodgers had some save situations. He was finally back on the mound last night but the results were again poor. He entered in the bottom of the eighth at Coors Field, with the Dodgers down 6-4. He faced four batters, allowing three hits and a walk, then was removed without recording an out.
On the one hand, it’s nice to have a diagnosis that explains his struggles, but any elbow issue for a pitcher is going to be worrisome. Losing him for three months is going to be a blow. He has been one of the best closers in recent history and was just signed to a huge contract in the offseason. The Dodgers gave him a three-year, $69MM deal to scoop him away from the Mets.
The Dodgers have won the past two World Series but their 2025 title came despite a shaky bullpen. Manager Dave Roberts relied more and more on his starters as the postseason went along and the Dodgers just barely held on, as they almost lost to the Jays on a few occasions, going into extra innings in Game Seven.
The Díaz signing was supposed to patch over one of the club’s few weak spots as they look for a three-peat. Though Díaz isn’t quite as ridiculously dominant as he was a few years ago, he still had a great 2025 season, tossing 66 1/3 innings with a 1.63 earned run average 38% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 48.4% ground ball rate.
The Dodgers generally approach injuries with a long view. Their team is strong enough that they can feel quite good about their chances of making the postseason. They can have their players, particularly the pitchers, take their time to ensure they are healthy for the postseason. Given the three-month timeline, they can take that approach with Díaz. Ideally, he will be back in time to shake off some rust down the stretch and be in peak form for October.
Time will tell how that goes. If Díaz experiences any kind of setback or struggles to get in form once he is healthy, it could potentially impact how the Dodgers approach the trade deadline, which is on August 3rd this year.
For now, they will have to proceed without their big offseason bullpen investment. Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen could be candidates for picking up some save opportunities now. Scott is back in good form so far this year after a rough 2025. Vesia has picked up a few scattered saves over the years and has started 2026 with ten scoreless appearances. Treinen has past closing experience but isn’t out to a great start this year, with a 4.05 ERA thus far.
Alden González of ESPN reported that he would undergo surgery and be out about three months. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first reported that some kind of procedure would take place. Jack Harris of the California Post first reported that the Dodgers would expect him to be back from that procedure during this season. Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
TJ
Larry: Another brilliant board certified orthopedic surgeon generously providing his expertise to the readers of this blog. Physical exam and imaging are superfluous, replaced by commenters on MLBTR. One wonders if Larry has even heard the aphorism: “It’s good to know what you don’t know”.
Refreshing to know you’ve read my work!
Yes, Ive read your “work” in the comments section of mlb.com, espn.com and now here on MLBTRADERUMORS.COM, “Doctor” Bernandez.
Damn dude
WOW
That’s Karma… no, that’s Kramer…
“right elbow loose bodies”
yikes
that doesn’t sound good
Sounds like code words for “needs a mental reset”
His elbow did appear to look larger recently. Not sure exactly how many loose bodies he can fit into it.
Can’t tell if serious or if tongue in cheek reference to Friedman/Roberts floating around in his elbow
I think it mostly depends on how old the loose bodies are.
Or how loose those old bodies are.
As everyone knows, Terry Forster had the loosest body in baseball.
Dont worry they will buy another closer. Unlimited money.
In order to ‘close’, you have to ‘win’.
Bought one last year. Scott has a 0.00 era in his last five appearances spanning 5 innings.
They’ll survive.
Cubs have unlimited money. But have an owner who doesn’t want to spend unlimited money even when his POBO digs him a hole where he should. Ricketts needs to hire a Faith Healer and a fortune teller to help with the big decisions.
Weren’t you banned once before? Lol
For what? Telling the truth? LMAO
Being first to reply I must hit all of the usual reactions: deferred loose bodies, real expensive loose bodies, now they trade him to fill in the blank, Dodgers suck, loose bodies are killing the MLB, erc
You forgot to blame the World Baseball Classic
Darn I forgot that one
Bingo!
ugh
Gotta respect someone doing it old school and making it to Hollywood with loose bodies
😉
Sasaki time
Certainly isn’t working as a starter
Probably another phantom IL stint. He’ll be back in 15 days.
He’s having surgery
It’s phantom surgery. Some ghosts are going to cut him up.
maybe we can get the ghosts to instead reach in and remove them. like the flash and phasing 🙂
There was a character on the show Venture Brothers named Phantom Limb and this seems like one of the best chances I’ll get to mention it.
Also, really want that nickname to catch on for some MLB player. Maybe for a guy who changes arm angles.
Lol…some ghosts have cut up the Mets bats!
Announced after my comment.
The initial report said he would have a procedure to remove the loose bodies. The timeline hadn’t been reported yet, though. 3 months is pretty steep. Maybe he’ll pitch better when he heals up.
oof that one hurts.
A tiny bit. It’s “oof” for most teams. Minor irritation for them.
Dodgers are down two important backend bullpen pieces at the moment.
Good thing Kike said he was ahead of schedule in his recovery.
Oh no ! Not 2 important back end pieces.
I’m guessing your depth will see you ride out the storm just fine.
See you next year Edwin.
Edwin dodged a bullet with the Mets. No games to close
🤣
Poor Mets metsin’…not!
I think you have it backwards regarding who dodged the bullet, my friend.
What does that even mean? “right elbow loose bodies”
A bone chip in the elbow, or “loose body,” is a small fragment of bone or cartilage that breaks off due to injury, overuse, or chronic conditions like osteochondritis dissecans
Probably means the same as “he will undergo some kind of procedure.”
Like what? Gall bladder surgery? Tonsillectomy? Those are some kind of procedure. Endless possibilities on this one.
Jimmy Hoffa is in his elbow.
Player: time to do some reading. Have you considered that course of action?
I read the article. I just have never heard of this injury that’s all. Still can’t be good for Edwin Diaz. Don’t like that he has become a ring chaser. I hope he has a fast and full recovery though.
Maybe it’s just me but I never liked pitchers that wore single digit numbers. The Yankees are the only team other than 0 that doesn’t have a single digit number available.
Finally the Mets get lucky. Or else he’s still jinxed by association.
They don’t look lucky
I’ve heard that jinxes *can* transfer.
Say that 3 times out of
Rodon of the Yankees just had surgery for loose bodies. That’s pretty common. If that is all it is he would probably miss 2-3 months.
Back just in time to lose in the playoffs!
They moved the playoffs to the All Star break?
Both Waldrep and Schwellenbach of the Braves had similar procedures back in February and won’t be back until at least July. You could probably figure Diaz would be out just as long if not longer
Not really. Starters require a much longer build-up.
Bone spurs?
He could be president someday!
You have to wonder if the Mets knew something…or his agent did.
He had to take a physical so assuming the loose bodies were already in his elbow, the Dodgers knew about it
The big secret is that sport physicals is mostly just the new team reviewing existing medical records and determining risk, much like an insurance company. If you think Edwin Diaz or any other player goes through a full battery of tests and exams every time he signs a new contract you’re very mistaken. It’s unlikely they did a fresh MRI on his elbow, or re-scanned his Achilles to see if it’s fully healed. They just took the medical records from the Mets, looked at them, and then did a basic sports physical like you did in middle school. Any advanced tests on his elbow at that time are extremely unlikely unless they had reason for concern, which they didn’t and the player probably wouldn’t have agreed to as it would affect his value if it came out teams wanted speculative scans.
Wow. Giving a pitcher that much cash without a fresh elbow mri or without a look at a healed Achilles is ridiculous.
The most professional org in the game just gives them a middle school physical ? That is impossible for me to believe.
When I’ve heard former pitchers discuss loose bodies/bone chips, they have said that many pitchers have them and either don’t know until scanned or are able to pitch despite them. Sean Manaea has them and chose to just pitch with them. Whether they are the cause of his reduced velocity and effectiveness, I don’t know. I’d need to check the alternate universe where he had the surgery to know for sure. But, the bottom line is that, even if the Dodgers saw them in the physical, if he’s had them for an extended time and was able to pitch effectively with them, they might have determined that it was worth the risk to sign him. It’s also possible that a piece of a bone spur dislodged since he passed the physical and is now giving him trouble.
Pretty bizarre if they did considering they offered him 3 years $66m.
@Reds: I doubt the Mets had any idea about this. They offered him a very similar deal to the one he got from the Dodgers and felt spurned that he left. They wanted him back badly, which would be odd if they knew about his elbow issue.
If Heyman said that, I would take it with a grain of salt.
Mets interest in Diaz was widely reported. Stearns even said it.
Diaz was never going to return to the Mets once he opted out.
Mets dodged a bullet big time!
One bullet. They stepped into the rest.
Dodged a bullet and stepped right into the path of a speeding train
The Dodgers closer woes continue.
Maybe Scott can fill the role he was signed for. He’s done well up to this point of the season. Would be nice to get any roi with him.
He’s had a good start to 2026, so hopefully for you LAD fans he can close.
Dodgers are pivoting already. Just don’t have close games.
Dodgers last week: “He’s not injured, just reduced velocity”….Dodgers this week: “Surgery is scheduled”
EdLose Diaz
Curious if that’s why Mets were ok losing him over $3M difference.
The Mets weren’t OK with losing him. Diaz didn’t give them a chance to counter-offer, which they probably would have done. Diaz just wanted to go to the Dodgers.
I read somewhere that Diaz felt disrespected with the Williams signing and just took the Dodgers offer and didnt come back to the mets. Also if i remember right is deferred and worth less in present day value even though the overall is higher dollars.
66M/3 is still a pretty solid I trust your elbow contract offer? 1M a year wasn’t the problem, nor the loose bodies, they both did their homework and this is something new I would imagine
They are ok losing without him. Just stating the obvious.
Roki back to the bullpen suddenly makes a lot more sense but they have so many other starters in the system on the injured list. They can’t even move him right now.
Didnt Scott have injuries last season and Jansen seemed always hurt. Is it some kind of closer curse for the Dodgers or something?
Jansen only ever had 3 IL stints with the Dodgers during the regular season. Once in 2011, again in 2015, and a third time in 2018. However, he never missed an extended period of time.
2011, 2012, 2015 each about a month due to heart issues (about 2 in 2011) then yes again in 2018 for a couple of weeks for heart this doesnt include the day to days he had to rest due to same irregular heart condition.
Amazing he did so well with something like that.
“I’ll take $69M and no, I won’t be pitching”
Just like your lockout obsession, you must’ve got this from your fantasy meeting in your head between Diaz, his agent, and the Dodgers’ front office.
Scott missed last season and still got a ring.
Mariachis on hold
Injuries are part of the game even to the mighty dodgers. They will just go out and get a quality replacement that others can’t because they have the resources.
Probably part of his contract like the rest of the Dodgers as a signing incentive. Big names don’t have to perform until the final stretch and playoffs. If it works it works.
Oh well, Friedman might as well have thrown the millions into the Pacific Ocean. Money is no object for the Dodgers. I wonder if it will ever catch up to them?? I wonder if ownership will ever get tired of these huge contracts for players who end up sitting on the bench injured for a good portion of their duration?
Naw, it’s their strategy. They’re so deep they can just rest their best players for the playoffs. He’ll be slinging 99-100 as soon as they need him to.
Maybe… and just maybe, okay? Maybe spending isn’t all that, despite how some baseball fans complain about it and make it like a big deal.
The talent disparity that has come from spending disparity is a big deal. Bordering on huge deal. It is a long long way from a trivial complaint being blown out of proportion. It’s real, and it’s a problem.
The Dodgers are essentially managing a high-leverage portfolio and borrowing against future revenue.
It looks like it’s working out so far as they’ve almost caught up to the Yankees in franchise valuation. There’s a bigger picture to look at here and a different business model from most of other teams.
They’ll need most of those big contracts to bust and the team missing the playoffs for several consecutive years for “it to catch up”. We all know that’s not happening any time soon and they don’t seem to have any liquidity issues funding escrow accounts. They also currently have one of the best farm systems.
He’s taking the Blake Snell approach to his dodgers tenure: rest up for the playoffs, little EdLose… your Timmy Trumpet mojo is gone.
I can’t read 66 posts but I’m sure a few of them are certain that David Stearns put the loose bodies in there himself while Diaz was sleeping.
That sounds creepy in all the creepy ways
Thank God the Bluejays didn’t sign Diaz now I don’t feel so bad that the Dodgers signed him instead otherwise Toronto would have another pitcher injured I also noticed that Scherzer missed his last start because of forearm discomfort does anyone know if he is on the DL or is he day to day
Go Padres
think Kyle Hurt will factor into this heavily along w a possible decision coming on Sasakis spot in the starting rotation.
He’ll be fine. The Dodgers are just saving him for World Series Games 5-7, if necessary.
Trade Diaz to the Blue Jays for Jeff Hoffman that way Hoffman can be on the team he actually won the world series for.
Neverbe51 no thank you the Bluejays had their chance to sign Diaz and they got outbid by the Dodgers and as far as Hoffman goes he needs to be removed from the closers roll and someone else should fill that roll maybe Rogers should get a crack at it
Get well Edwin. We’ll (hopefully) see you in the playoffs!
You’re a good sport Brew.
If only they had 3 underperforming guys they brought in last year to solve these new bullpen issues? Oh wait, yes they do!
The Dodgers are zigging whilst everyone else is zagging. I’ve no idea why other large market teams don’t operate the way they do with respect to having enough excess everywhere to cover for these IL stints?
Glad the Mets dont have him or the fans wouldve been going even more crazy!!!
After what went down last summer, Diaz and Pete Alonso have no regrets over leaving that godforsaken ballclub.
Will the hospital arrange to have Narco by Timmy Trumpet blaring as he’s wheeled into the operating room?
It’s a shame to see these pitchers going down left and right. I hate to see anyone go through this, I’m usually a Dodger hater but this sucks for all of baseball.
The team that bought roughly 4-5 closers in the last few years. Seems closers don’t last long in LA. They will now just rotate through them.
They got the bucks to get a few more.
No problemo
They are only paying him a boat load of money
Bad news for Edwin Diaz . Good thing he didn’t sign with Mets. Tanner Scott willl be a good enough closer
Lol…..”will miss 3 months”. I doubt it. He will miss more.
It’s great to have all these geniuses with medical degrees here to enlighten us.
He is done for the yr. However the Dodgers have money. They will get one or two news closers to add to the arsenal. 100% he is finished this yr. Probably the TJ is next.
Thanks for spending your valuable time with us, doc!
“Thanks for spending”…Not all the world’s best “doctors” are from the Ivy League; many reside right here in the comments section of MLBTRADERUMORS.COM
He did enough to get a ring. That’s all that matters.
Not sure I get your point, but mine was to thank this sports medicine professional for stopping by and sharing his expertise with us.
“Loose bodies”..Fat people in his arm? No wonder he can’t pitch. Who could pitch with several fat people in his arm?
What are “…loose bodies in the elbow?” Every article uses that terminology, and none of them explain exactly what it really means in Diaz’ case. We can all speculate, but why don’t the team or its physician simply tell us?
Diaz is irreplaceable as the Dodgers’ closer.
That explains why he’s been terrible. I’m guessing he will be back a little after the all star break.
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Dodgers Place Edwin Díaz On IL With Right Elbow Loose Bodies – MLB Trade Rumors
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