Dodgers Plan Edwin Diaz Return Friday

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Edwin Diaz is scheduled to come off the injured list Friday and ease back into low-leverage innings after a neck injury that has kept him out since mid-August, manager Dave Roberts told the team's beat Wednesday morning. MLB Trade Rumors relayed Roberts' update via Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times: Diaz returns Friday, and center fielder Andy Pages is also nearing activation during the upcoming homestand.

Diaz signed a three-year, $69 million deal last winter and has pitched only 13 2/3 big league innings this season. He owns an 11.85 ERA with 25 hits and 10 walks allowed in that sample. His strikeout rate has plunged from a career 39.9% mark into the mid-20s, and his average fastball is down roughly a tick from 2025. That is the ugly board Los Angeles is trying to rehab in real time before October decisions harden.

Rehab numbers and playoff math

The Triple-A rehab stint did not quiet the worry. Across five Oklahoma City appearances and 4 1/3 innings, Diaz allowed six runs with seven walks and only four strikeouts. Roberts' plan is low leverage first, not an instant ninth-inning reclaim. Fantasy managers who stashed Diaz as a save lottery ticket should treat Friday as a reinstatement, not a closer coronation. Tanner Scott, Evan Phillips, Alex Vesia, Brock Stewart, and Blake Treinen have already carried the late innings through the stretch.

Roberts has not promised Diaz a postseason roster spot. Los Angeles still wants to see cleaner fastball command and fewer free passes before those October chairs are assigned. Edgardo Henriquez is dealing with a low-grade back strain, so bullpen seats are still moving. Diaz gets a handful of September games to force his way back into the conversation against live National League lineups, not another Triple-A script.

Pages and the homestand

Pages has been out nearly a month with a fractured hand and is likely to return during the Giants and Padres homestand. With the minor league season closed, he cannot take a rehab assignment, so any activation jumps straight onto the big league roster. Teoscar Hernandez and Alex Freeland have helped cover the gap in the meantime. Shohei Ohtani's eventual return will reshape the DH picture again before the final week of the regular season.

Dodgers fans tracking September bullpen usage should watch how quickly Diaz moves from mop-up to medium leverage. One clean outing does not erase the ERA. Three clean outings with the heater playing would change the October argument. Friday is the first public stamp back in a Dodgers uniform.

Low leverage first. Cleaner command next. October still has to be earned.