Edgardo Henriquez is saving the Dodgers from another payroll PR nightmare

It seems like every reliever throws in the upper 90s and touches 100 mph, but then there is that tier of guys who sit 100 mph+. Edgardo Henriquez is that pitcher and has been one of Dave Robert's most trusted arms for about a month now. Over his last 11 outings, he's thrown 10 1/3 innings, allowing zero runs on four hits and one walk with 17 strikeouts.

Numbers like that don't happen by accident, and Henriquez is making sure they’re not happening quietly, either. Henriquez sits tied with Angels flamethrower Ben Joyce for the second-hardest single pitch thrown in baseball this season, both at 104.5 mph, trailing only Jacob Misiorowski's record-setting 105.5. That's the company he's keeping right now, and it's not a fluke.

With all the helium, it’s easy to forget where this guy actually came from. The Dodgers signed Henriquez as a teenager back in 2018 for just $80,000 in international bonus money, and he wasn't even a pitcher when they found him — he came up as a catcher before the organization moved him to the mound almost immediately. He lost all of 2023 to Tommy John surgery, debuted in September 2024, struck out the very first hitter he ever faced in the big leagues, and even got some innings in the postseason.

He started 2025 on the IL with a foot issue, but after working his way back to the major league team in July, Henriquez has been dominant. He finished 2025 with a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings and also pitched in the World Series and secured a ring. In 2026, we are watching a 24-year-old back it all up with a 2.62 ERA while looking like one of the best relievers in the entire sport.

Why the Dodgers' closer decision isn't as simple as it looks

So naturally, the conversation turns to October, and to the ninth inning specifically. And this is where it gets complicated for a front office that already spent real money trying to solve this exact problem. Tanner Scott signed a four-year, $72 million deal back in January of 2025 to be this bullpen's closer. A year later, Edwin Diaz followed on a three-year, $69 million contract built around that same job.

Both of those deals were made with the ninth inning specifically in mind, and neither guy has made it simple since. Scott stumbled through a rough first year and postseason before finally looking like himself. Diaz has fought his own injury issues and is working his way back to LA in time for the postseason. Dave Roberts hasn't handed anybody the job permanently (he's said there are four or five names still in the mix), but he's also made clear that Henriquez is high on that list, and after the month he's had, it's not hard to see why. (Henriquez got the ninth inning against the Marlins on Friday night but it wasn't a save situation as the Dodgers won 6-2.)

Here's the tough part, though. As tempting as it is to picture Henriquez as an obvious future trade chip or the guy who simply takes the job outright, the Dodgers can't actually afford to think about him that way. You don't trade a guy like this when you've already watched the two players who were supposed to be entrenched in that exact role each miss time or go through their own rough stretches. 

Henriquez isn't a luxury item sitting on top of Scott's and Diaz's contracts. He's the reason those contracts are survivable at all. If either of those two goes down again in October, or simply isn't sharp when the lights are brightest, Henriquez is the arm that slides into the eighth or ninth without this bullpen skipping a beat.

Whatever title ends up next to his name by the time the postseason roster is set, the sky genuinely feels like the limit for this kid right now. He's already shown he can handle the biggest outs in the biggest moments, and even if the money already on the books keeps him a half-step below "the guy" on paper, he's become the piece this bullpen (in a time when it is crumbling) truly cannot afford to lose. That's a one good problem for the Dodgers to have heading into October, and hopefully for a long time after that.

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