PHOENIX — Edwin Díaz feels he has some unsettled business to attend to first as he prepares for his first spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Three years ago, Díaz — then with the New York Mets — closed out an emphatic victory over the Dominican Republic to help Puerto Rico advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. As his teammates converged on the mound, Díaz suddenly collapsed and clutched his leg. The celebration quickly turned to serious concern. Díaz had suffered a knee injury — a complete tear of his right patellar tendon. He missed the entire 2023 season.
Still, Díaz didn’t hesitate when the opportunity to represent Team Puerto Rico arose once again this year.
“(The injury) wasn’t in my mind,” Díaz said to reporters Saturday morning. “I have the chance to play in front of Puerto Rico. That was an easy decision.”
The Dodgers’ prized new closer will first take on ninth-inning duties for his home country. Díaz was named Puerto Rico’s closer in January and is building up at Camelback Ranch until tournament pool play begins in early March. This year’s tournament is especially notable for Díaz, as Puerto Rico is a host site for the first round.
“Playing (there) will be my first time playing for my people from Puerto Rico,” Díaz said. “So that was an easy yes when I knew that the WBC was going to be there.”
Puerto Rico, which has finished runner-up in the tournament twice, will not field the roster it anticipated under manager Yadier Molina. Francisco Lindor — who was named the team captain last year — and Carlos Correa were denied insurance; Lindor underwent surgery this week to repair a broken hamate bone, while Correa’s lengthy injury history led National Financial Partners, which brokers insurance for the tournament, to deny his coverage. Javier Báez was suspended from this year’s tournament for marijuana usage after testing positive during the 2023 Classic.
That makes Díaz’s inclusion even more meaningful for a site that hasn’t hosted the tournament since 2013.
“It’s the only chance we have to represent our countries with the uniform, Puerto Rico,” Díaz said. “To have the chance to represent our countries in that tournament is really big for us.”
First #DodgersST bullpen in the books! pic.twitter.com/LzO5Oqqpn6
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 13, 2026
Díaz is expected to leave Dodgers camp a few days before tournament pool play begins, with Puerto Rico scheduled to open against Colombia on March 6 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan. He threw his first bullpen Friday, along with Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan. He’s already impressed by his new team’s camaraderie, remarking about the chemistry in the clubhouse. “I think that’s how they’ve been so good.”
Díaz signed a three-year, $69 million deal with Los Angeles in December, surprising the majority of the industry with his decision. Re-signing with the Mets, where he had spent his last six seasons and become a face of the franchise, seemed the most plausible situation even when New York signed reliever Devin Williams.
While the Dodgers were looking to bolster their bullpen, they had been coy about the degree of improvement, and they emerged as late suitors for Díaz after Williams signed. After a few days of negotiations, Díaz opted to sign with Los Angeles, a decision Mets owner Steve Cohen described as “perplexing.”
“(I’m) not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision,” Cohen said in a recent interview with Mets broadcaster Howie Rose. “Obviously it’s a personal decision on his part, and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.”
Díaz responded by saying the Dodgers did a great job of recruiting him in free agency.
“I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization, players, staff, ownership,” Díaz said. “They treated me really good. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. But at the end of the day, I’m here. This is a new journey for me and I’m happy to be with the Dodgers, so let’s see how it goes.”
That’s the Dodgers’ mentality as they work to shape the bullpen behind Díaz. Manager Dave Roberts was impressed by Tanner Scott’s first bullpen of the spring, calling it “fantastic.” However, the team will slow-play Brusdar Graterol as he ramps back up after shoulder surgery. Graterol threw off the mound Friday, but his velocity was much lower than where it needs to be, Roberts said.
Dave Roberts said the Dodgers are slow playing Brusdar Graterol a bit this spring. Ball hasn’t come out the way they’d expected as he continues to work his way back from shoulder surgery.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 14, 2026
While the rest of the bullpen is a work in progress, there is a reprieve in having a designated closer — something the Dodgers did not have for most of the second half of last season and through the postseason. Knowing Díaz will take the ninth allows for better matchups in earlier innings and should bring more established roles for the set-up relievers. Scott, for example, should see more action in high leverage against lefties this year.
“I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen, but when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think it frees up other guys, myself included, not having to worry about matchups for the ninth,” Roberts said. “That’s freeing for me and allows for getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”
The Dodgers will see plenty of looks for those spots while Díaz is at the WBC. It’s hard for Díaz to say what would mean more to him: a World Series title or a championship berth with Puerto Rico. He’s never been to the World Series, he said, so he’ll have to report back when he does.
He hopes that it will be this fall. That’s why he’s here, after all.
“I’m ready. I’m here to win,” Díaz said. “I’m hungry to win and can’t wait to start a season with this team to make it to the World Series and win again.”