It’s a challenging task to find a player who, in a very specific way, better represents the evolution of baseball, and particularly pitching, than Edgardo Henriquez. Not so long ago, a pitcher with his
natural abilities would be seen as the jewel in the crown of a bullpen and someone whose production or lack thereof would be under a microscope. However, for various reasons, that isn’t the case these days, despite the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2025 not representing the most reliable of units, far from it.
A player who had already dealt with injuries coming into 2025, Henriquez wasn’t able to build on the momentum from having been a part of the postseason roster in 2024, despite only tossing 3.1 innings during that regular season. The hard-throwing righty had a left-foot injury in spring training away from the field, one that, even now, there’s hardly any detail about what exactly happened and ultimately kept him out until the end of June.
Henriquez’s 2025 progression also shows you should take Pacific Coast League stats with a grain of salt, as the right-hander got absolutely pummeled in his return to the mound in Triple A—Henriquez allowed 18 earned runs in 23.2 innings of work in the minors. Despite those numbers, he eventually got the call to the big league team in late July and worked his way into an important role from August onwards.
Without much in the way of off-speed offerings, as his three most-used pitches were the sinker, four-seam fastball, and cutter in that order, taking his advantage to sit 100+ MPH, he found success in the big leagues in 2025. The 23-year-old limited the opposition to a 2.37 ERA despite not very impressive strikeout numbers, finishing the year with a 23.4 K%.
This level of production down the stretch, combined with the struggles of a bullpen that in many ways was falling apart, all led Henríquez to be in the mix for a postseason role, but that didn’t really turn out to be the case. Coming into the World Series, Henriquez had only appeared in one game during the Wild Card round against the Reds, allowing one run and three base runners without recording an out. Still, he made the World Series roster, and here’s where we get to one of the most memorable moments of the 2025 campaign, one that involved Henriquez and every other reliever who could have been involved: Game 3 of the Fall Classic.
At the time, with the way the Dodgers ended up winning Game 3, there was a feeling that it could be the springboard for a commanding World Series win, but that didn’t necessarily turn out to be the case. What became the only home win for the Dodgers in the World Series was pivotal in allowing this team to survive long enough to win the championship in seven.
The script for Game 3 involved every single reliever making an appearance. Some of them played crucial and unexpected roles, including Henriquez, whose two scoreless frames, covering the 13th and 14th innings, kept the Dodgers alive long enough to win it in walk-off fashion.
2025 particulars
Age: 23
Stats: 22 games, 19 IP, 2.37 ERA, 5 walks, 18 strikeouts
Salary: $762,500 (prorated to his time in the majors)
Game of the year
Coming in with a man on and no outs in the eighth, as the Dodgers led the Reds 4-1 in late August, Henriquez struck out three hitters and walked one, ultimately stranding two in what was then his second hold of the year.
Roster status
Henríquez has yet to complete a full year of service time and so isn’t eligible for arbitration.
