Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez will face hitters during the Dodgers’ Wild Card round bye week, and manager Dave Roberts revealed he will be on the NLDS roster if all goes well.
Henriquez will provide a huge boost to the Dodgers’ bullpen, which just lost veteran right-hander Blake Treinen for the remainder of the year. Henriquez landed on the injured list Sept. 14 with lower back discomfort, putting an end to a solid regular season with the Dodgers.
Over the course of a career-high 61 games, Henriquez posted a 2.85 ERA over the course of 60 innings pitched, striking out 71 batters. Henriquez has been the Dodgers’ most effective right-handed arm out of the bullpen this year, and his high-90s fastball will be an invaluable tool for the Dodgers in the postseason if he returns.
Could Edgardo Henriquez Be the Dodgers’ Postseason Closer?
The Dodgers, over the past two seasons, splashed on closers, offering more than $100m in contracts to Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz. Despite their spending on high-leverage arms, Henriquez could take the job come October.
Scott has been decent for the Dodgers this season, finishing the year with a 2.69 ERA, but he had a 4.15 ERA in September and carried a pretty rough stretch into the month, allowing two earned runs in his final three games of August.
Diaz has been good as of late, holding opponents scoreless through all five of his appearances this month, but his results on the season aren’t quite as impressive.
He got off to a decent start this year, posting a 1.80 ERA through his first five appearances on the year, but struggled to keep runs off of the board afterwards. He only made two appearances in 10 days in April, and allowed three runs in both before landing on the injured list with loose bodies in his elbow.
After spending just over three months on the injured list, he returned in July but still struggled, allowing 11 runs over the course of 7.2 innings before heading back to the injured list with a neck injury.
Being one of the Dodgers’ best relievers this season, Henriquez could very well step into the closer role in October if needed and play a huge role in the Dodgers’ quest for a historic three-peat.
