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Perhaps for the first time in 2026, Alex Vesia felt some normalcy Friday night.
The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher returned to the pitcher’s mound in his first Major League outing since his infant daughter died just five days after she was born.
Before the World Series, the left-hander left the team to attend to a “deeply personal matter” and did not pitch in the Fall Classic.
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Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia celebrates after the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Days after the Dodgers won the World Series, he and his wife announced their infant daughter was dead.
Vesia returned to the team during spring training and then entered the Dodgers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning of a 4-4 tie.
It was totally the place for Vesia to return, but considering his 2.36 ERA over the last two seasons, it was no sweat. He left a runner stranded at second base and held the D-Backs scoreless en route to the team’s 5-4 victory over their division rival.
Vesia let out a shout and pointed toward the Dodgers’ family section as she received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Vesia was wearing a custom pink glove with his daughter’s name, Sterling Sol, sewn on along with her birthday and his wife’s first initial, K for Kayla, embroidered on the glove’s ring finger.
Alex Vesia of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on March 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
DODGERS PITCHER’S WIFE SURVIVES ‘BITTER SWEET’ OPENING DAY MONTHS AFTER INFANT DAUGHTER’S DEATH
“What I would give to have my Sterling girl here always carrying her in my heart,” Kayla said in an Instagram post earlier this week to celebrate a “bittersweet” opening day.
Sterling walked between Game 2 and Game 3 as the series was tied at one game. During the Fall Classic, relievers from Toronto Blue Jays wrote Vesia’s jersey number, 51, on their hats.
At the year’s first spring training news conference, Vesia called his wife “the strongest person I know” and “a support system for me as much as I am for her.”
“Life can change in an instant. For us, 10 minutes is all it took,” Vesia said in February. “Sterling Sol was the most beautiful girl in the world. We got to hold her, change her diapers, read to her and love her. Our time together was far too short. Kay and I will keep these precious moments and memories to ourselves.
“Stepping away from the team, the brothers that I go to war with every day, was hard, but it was also an easy decision because my family needed me. We still watched every pitch of the World Series, and for us in so many ways, it was a light in our darkness.
Alex Vesia of the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks the crowd during the 2025 Back-to-Back World Champions Ring ceremony prior to the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Friday, March 27, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Jessie Alcheh/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
“I wasn’t prepared to not bring my little girl home, but we carry her with us every day. It’s been hard, but we’re doing well.”
The back-to-back reigning World Series champions are 2-0 to start the MLB season.
