Edwin Díaz throws first live batting practice after elbow surgery, next step is rehab assignment for Dodgers

Edwin Díaz is making progress toward a return to the Dodgers after undergoing right-elbow surgery to remove loose bodies. On Sunday at Dodger Stadium, Díaz threw his first live batting practice since the procedure, an important step in the typical progression for a relief pitcher returning from structural elbow work.

According to MLB reporting from the Dodgers, the session featured Díaz facing hitters in a live setting, including Alex Freeland. The context matters because live batting practice is one of the first times a pitcher confronts timing and contact in a game-like environment after bullpen work, and it often functions as the on-ramp to the next stage of rehab. The Dodgers described Díaz as “on track” toward that transition.

The timing of the milestone places Díaz in the window the team has discussed for a post-break return. Manager Dave Roberts said the next step will be starting a rehab assignment, setting up the possibility of Díaz returning not long after the All-Star break. For a team that relies on late-inning leverage, the difference between “some time” and “this phase next” is substantial, even if baseball schedules still require patience with arm soreness and workload.

Díaz’s rehab path is also unfolding alongside other return-from-injury work in the Dodgers bullpen ecosystem. MLB noted that Kiké Hernández, described in the report as one of the rehabbers, took his first live at-bat since sustaining a left oblique strain shortly after returning from the injured list in May. That connection underscores how the Dodgers are sequencing multiple reintegration steps rather than addressing one player in isolation.

What led to the surgery was a change the Dodgers could track even before it reached the point of needing an MRI. The reporting states that Díaz believed he was dealing with loose bodies in his elbow for years, often without symptoms, but one early-season episode prompted further evaluation. After an April start in Colorado in which Díaz surrendered three runs without recording an out, an MRI revealed the loose bodies, and the surgery followed.

The team also tied the decision to look deeper to performance indicators. MLB reported that Díaz’s fastball averaged 95.7 mph in the early season, down from 97.2 mph in 2025. The Dodgers and Díaz maintained that he was healthy despite the dip in velocity, but the MRI findings ultimately shifted the narrative from a performance question to a mechanical and health one. In the report, Díaz also described feeling close to where he wants to be during the throwing progression and said he already felt better than he did before the surgery.

For Dodgers fans, the immediate watch item is not whether Díaz can throw, but how he responds after this live work. The Dodgers’ stated plan moves to a rehab assignment next, which will require careful monitoring of both workload and any lingering elbow discomfort. If Díaz clears those steps cleanly, his live batting-practice milestone positions him for the late-July window the team has framed, giving Los Angeles an anchor for the back end of games after the break.