Several members of the Dodgers beat reported Saturday that manager Dave Roberts plans to use Edwin Diaz in a lower-leverage role when the right-hander returns from a neck issue, which sounds like it'll happen sooner than later, and a number of aggregators in the usual places disseminated only that part of the report. Unfortunately, there's more to it. The more complete version is that Roberts plans to use Diaz in a lower-leverage role at first before easing him back into the closer role as performance merits.
Maybe that never happens. Diaz has been terrible this year, whether going on or coming off the IL, so it's reasonable to question whether this latest stint will fix him. And we all know his absence means more saves for Tanner Scott, the Dodgers' big free agent closer flop from a year ago who has bounced back with a 2.24 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 11.0 K/9.
Our preferred outcome at this point would be for them to just stick with Scott, and given how little remains on the 2026 calendar, that's how this is likely to go. But if your league plays up to the very end, you can't count on it. Robert's mind may have opened a crack regarding Diaz, but we all remain subject to his whims.
Note: "Pecking order" refers to rosterability in Fantasy and not necessarily who's first in line for saves (though it's usually one and the same). The Pirates also kicked off my last Bullpen Report two weeks ago, but the name at the top of the pecking order then was Luke Weaver. The team had just acquired him from the Mets, presumably to be the solution to their season-long closer problem.
But he has gotten precisely zero of the Pirates' saves since then while left-hander Mason Montgomery has gotten all three. Turns out the solution was right under their noses, and you need only dig a little to confirm that he is indeed the solution. Over his past 22 appearances, Montgomery has a 0.86 ERA, 0.59 WHIP and 17.6 -- yes, 17.6 -- K/9.
Frankly, he's been about that dominant all year, which explains his 14.5 K/9 overall. It's just that when Gregory Soto began losing his grip on the closer role in June, Montgomery endured his own little rough patch, bringing his ERA to 4.94, which took him off the table as well. Even at that point, though, his FIP was only 2.96.
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