Diaz Earns First Dodgers Save With Live Trumpet Welcome
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- Edwin Diaz earned his first save in a Dodgers uniform, retiring three of four Arizona Diamondbacks hitters in the top of the ninth to lock down a 5-4 win on the season's second day.
- Diaz signed a three-year, $69 million contract with Los Angeles after opting out with the Mets, who replaced him by signing closer Devin Williams.
- Tatiana Tate, a Long Beach-based trumpeter, performed a live rendition of Timmy Trumpet's 'Narco' — Diaz's signature entrance music — from just beyond the left-field wall as he made his walk from the bullpen.
- The Dodgers deployed 12 different pitchers to record saves last year and lacked an established closer since Kenley Jansen departed after the 2021 season, a weakness Roberts called the team's 'only glaring weakness.'
- Diaz had piled up 144 saves across seven seasons in New York to become a Citi Field icon, and he called the live trumpet debut 'pretty fun,' saying, 'I'm hearing the trumpets here at Dodger Stadium now.'
- Manager Dave Roberts was on vacation in early December when a front-office member pulled him onto a 45-minute recruiting video call with Diaz; afterward, Roberts told his wife, 'We're going to get him.'
Why it matters: The Dodgers plugged their most glaring roster hole — a bullpen that cycled through 12 different save-getters last year and had no closer since Jansen left after 2021 — by handing $69 million and three years to a reliever with 144 career saves, giving them a postseason anchor they've been missing.
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