{"id":648419,"date":"2026-03-28T10:44:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/648419\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T10:44:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:44:31","slug":"dodgers-new-faces-make-noise-early-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/648419\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers\u2019 new faces make noise early"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2013 The two biggest offseason acquisitions by the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> are paying dividends already.<\/p>\n

Edwin Diaz<\/a> earned his first save in his debut and Kyle Tucker<\/a> singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 5-4 victory<\/a> over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Diaz trotted out in the ninth to the sounds of trumpeter Tatiana Tate, who tooted from the stands next to the left field bullpen. Wearing Diaz’s No. 3 jersey, she played Timmy Trumpet’s \u201cNarcos,\u201d<\/a> the closer’s entrance song that electrified New York Mets fans before the Dodgers lured the fan favorite away on a $69 million, three-year deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool because it\u2019s another way to keep the fans involved in the game until the ninth inning because they\u2019re all going to be waiting for that,\u201d infielder Miguel Rojas said. \u201cHaving Sugar in the ninth is always going to be special.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, fans may be hearing a recorded version of Diaz’s music next time. Tate, who has played with Stevie Wonder and Doechii<\/a>, isn’t expected to be a regular presence during the season.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz struck out two and walked one. He converted 28 of 31 save chances for the Mets last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always get a little bit nervous when I come into the game, but at the end of the day I was excited, too,\u201d Diaz said. \u201cI come in a one-run game was really big for me. I want to set it down the second day of the season, help this team to win, get the save and keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers won back-to-back World Series championships without a true closer, although at times it was a rocky road. The last pitcher to fill that role was Kenley Jansen, who twice led the National League in saves during his spell in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Now, Diaz provides dependability, a track record and a level of trust at the back of the bullpen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot on Sugar because he\u2019s going to have to be under a lot of pressure,” Rojas said, “but he\u2019s done it before. He\u2019s the right guy for the task.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manager Dave Roberts initially didn’t think the Dodgers had a chance to land Diaz in free agency after the right-hander opted out of the final two years and $38 million of his contract with the Mets.<\/p>\n

Roberts got off a 45-minute video call with Diaz and front office executives, and told his wife, \u201cWe’re going to get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was selling ourselves and talking about how much we valued him and the culture of the team and the ownership and how we’ll do anything to win,\u201d Roberts recalled. \u201cHe talked to his wife and convinced her moving West was a good decision.”<\/p>\n

Another factor that played in the Dodgers’ favor, Roberts believes, is that Diaz’s younger brother, Alexis,<\/a> had joined the Dodgers last May as a reliever. He is currently in the Texas Rangers organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling him up from the minors and us treating him like a superstar, I think that kind of helped make that decision and comfort going forward,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

The attraction for Diaz was simple: \u201cA lot of good players here. Everyone stays healthy, this team has a chance to win a three-peat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tucker went 1-for-3 with the game-winning single and a stolen base. In his debut on Thursday, the right fielder notched his first hit and first RBI in an 8-2 comeback victory. He signed a $240 million, four-year deal to leave the Chicago Cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited for them to have the opportunity to play in this environment and feel part of the family,\u201d Rojas said. \u201cI’m pretty sure they’re looking closely at how fun it’s been.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/mlb<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 The two biggest offseason acquisitions by the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,4314,5,1560,38,1087,132,29,8935,4,185,83119,83118,64116],"class_list":["post-648419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-arizonadiamondbacks","tag-baseball","tag-dave-roberts","tag-diamondbacks","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-kenley-jansen","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-miguel-rojas","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-stevie-wonder","tag-tatiana-tate","tag-timmy-trumpet"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116306396881180007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648419","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=648419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}