{"id":606269,"date":"2026-03-04T19:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/606269\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:23:16","slug":"dodgers-edwin-diaz-sends-message-to-critics-over-wbc-decision-following-2023-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/606269\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers&#8217; Edwin Diaz sends message to critics over WBC decision following 2023 injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/los-angeles-dodgers\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Los Angeles Dodgers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> pitcher Edwin Diaz is gearing up for the <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/world-baseball-classic\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"World Baseball Classic\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">World Baseball Classic<\/a>, despite past concerns following an injury during the 2023 tournament. His decision has sparked discussion among fans and analysts about whether high-profile MLB players should participate in international play.<\/p>\n<p>Joining Team Puerto Rico once again, Diaz has the support of teammates, including Kike Hernandez, who weighed in on the pitcher\u2019s choice. Hernandez highlighted the cultural significance and pride behind representing Puerto Rico, explaining that Diaz\u2019s participation was understandable despite the risks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/edwin-diaz\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Diaz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Diaz<\/a> addressed the criticism directly, putting the 2023 injury in context. \u201cI have only one response for that. I didn\u2019t get hurt pitching. It was after the game. That could have happened to me anywhere. If I got hurt pitching, it\u2019s different. But I was just trying to celebrate,\u201d he said, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. <\/p>\n<p>    Dodgers count on Diaz staying healthy <\/p>\n<p>For a Dodgers pitching staff that struggled with injuries in 2025, having Diaz perform without setbacks is crucial. Los Angeles will be closely monitoring his workload during the WBC to ensure he\u2019s ready for the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/mlb\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"MLB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MLB<\/a> season and the team\u2019s title defense.<\/p>\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwODAiIHdpZHRoPSIxOTIwIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIvPg==\"\/> Pitcher Edwin Diaz #3 of the Dodgers throws against the Diamondbacks. Chris Coduto\/Getty Images Teammates support cultural <\/p>\n<p>Hernandez added context on the significance of representing Puerto Rico: \u201cIt was a freak injury, and he was willing to do it all over again. Those games just mean so much to us, being able to wear that uniform.\u201d Diaz\u2019s commitment reflects both personal pride and the competitive spirit that comes with international play.<\/p>\n<p>SURVEY Do you support MLB players participating in the World Baseball Classic even after past injuries?<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-poll__title-wrapper__question-xs jsx-3883365378\">Do you support MLB players participating in the World Baseball Classic even after past injuries?<\/p>\n<p>Depends on the player and injury history<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-poll__vote-counter article-poll__vote-counter-69a87856a1c616357c3f8de0 jsx-3883365378\">already voted 2 fans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edwin Diaz is gearing up for the World Baseball Classic, despite past concerns following&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,1087,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-606269","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-dodgers","10":"tag-edwin-diaz","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-dodgers","13":"tag-ladodgers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangelesdodgers","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116172541661923733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}