Edwin Diaz said Monday that he was feeling good five days after elbow surgery last Wednesday in Los Angeles to remove five loose bodies from his pitching arm.
“Everything went well,” Diaz said, adding, “I feel really good. I can move my arm really good right now. I’m really surprised because the surgery was on Wednesday.” The closer, who signed a $69 million, three-year deal in the offseason after leaving the New York Mets as a free agent, said he is aiming to return after the All-Star break in July.
The timing matters because Diaz, a three-time All-Star with 257 saves in 300 opportunities and 849 strikeouts across 527 career games, had shown signs of trouble before the procedure. On April 19 in Colorado he did not feel comfortable throwing, failed to get an out in the eighth inning of a 9-6 loss, and allowed three runs on three hits with one walk. He told the team and was sent for imaging, which did not reveal any further issues in his arm.
Diaz’s early regular-season numbers with the Dodgers reflected the disruption: he is 1-0 with a 10.50 ERA in seven games. Still, he emphasized that the operation addressed a mechanical cause. “I knew I had it and never felt something weird with my arm,” Diaz said. “My arm was feeling tired and tight. Maybe that’s why the (velocity) was a little bit inconsistent.”
Team officials said the club’s entrance-music performer, Tatiana Tate, will not be needed while Diaz is out. Diaz himself tempered expectations about an immediate return: he has yet to get the stitches out and will not resume throwing for a couple of weeks. But he repeatedly returned to the same beat — recovery now, contribution later. “I’m going to work on my body,” he said, “so I just want to come back strong and help this team to win.”
Loose bodies are small fragments of bone or cartilage that have broken off and are floating freely in the joint space; removing five of them is the specific fix the Dodgers elected. Diaz called the soreness he had been feeling the first of its kind in his career. “It’s the first time in my career my arm is sore,” he said. He also noted how that soreness may have produced the inconsistent velocity that preceded his April outing in Colorado.
The surgery and the recovery timetable create real friction for a team that signed him to be a late-inning anchor. Diaz expressed frustration at missing the season’s first half. “That (stinks) to miss the first half, but that's something I can't control,” he said, while also describing the clubhouse support: “My teammates, they are supporting me. They say, ‘Oh, take your time. We need you in October.’ But I want to come back as soon as possible and help this team to win games.”
There is a practical tension between Diaz’s July target and the work that remains. He cannot throw for weeks, stitches must come out, and any throwing program would need to be carefully monitored — yet he is already publicly plotting a midseason comeback. He acknowledged the strange combination of relief and surprise after the operation. “I feel really good. I can move my arm really good right now. I’m really surprised because the surgery was on Wednesday,” he said. “She will be out of work for a couple months,” Diaz added, then smiled at a lighter note: “but I hope when I come back, she comes back and plays the trumpet for me.”
For now, Diaz’s recovery is the thing to watch: the timeline to resume throwing, the removal of stitches, and how quickly he can rebuild arm strength will decide whether the Dodgers get their late-inning weapon back by July. Until then, fans scanning the dodgers score from April 19 — a 9-6 loss that night — will see the line that prompted the imaging and ultimately the surgery; Diaz is betting the rest of the season that last month’s box score will look different come October.
