Dodgers’ Alex Vesia honored with ovation after infant daughter’s tragic death

Perhaps for the first time in 2026, Alex Vesia felt some normalcy Friday night.

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher returned to the mound in his first major league outing since his baby daughter died just five days after birth.

Before the World Series, the left-hander left the team to attend to a “deeply personal matter” and did not participate in the Fall Classic.

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Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia celebrates after the seventh inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on 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 little girl was dead.

Vesia returned to the team during spring training, then entered the Dodgers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning of a 4–4 tie.

It was quite a spot for Vesia to return, but considering his 2.36 ERA over the last two seasons, it wasn’t a sweat. He left a runner stranded at second base and kept the D-Backs scoreless en route to the team’s 5-4 victory over their division rival.

Vesia let out a scream and pointed to the Dodgers’ family section while receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

Vesia wore a personalized pink glove with his daughter’s name, Sterling Sol, stitched on it, as well as her date of birth 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. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

DODGERS PITCHER’S WIFE LIVES ON “BITTERSWEET” OPENING DAY MONTHS AFTER CHILD DAUGHTER’S DEATH

“What I would give to have my daughter Sterling here, always carrying her in my heart,” Kayla said in an Instagram post earlier this week celebrating a “bittersweet” opening day.

Sterling died between Game 2 and Game 3 when the series was tied at one game apiece. During the Fall Classic, the relievers of the Toronto Blue Jays wrote the number 51 of Vesia’s jersey on their hats.

In his first spring training press conference of the year, Vesia called his wife “the strongest person I know” and “a support system to me just as much as I am to her.”

“Life can change in an instant. For us, 10 minutes is enough,” Vesia said in February. “Sterling Sol was the most beautiful girl in the world. We got to hold her, change her diaper, read to her, and love on her. Our time together was far too short. Kay and I will treasure those moments and memories for us.

“Walking away from the team, from the brothers that I go to war with every day, was difficult, but it was also an easy decision because my family needed me. We always watched every pitch of the World Series, and for us, in many ways, it was a light in our darkness.

Alex Vesia of the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks the crowd during the 2025 World Champions ring ceremony before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium on Friday, March 27, 2026 in Los Angeles. (Jessie Alcheh/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

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“I wasn’t ready to not bring my little girl home, but we carry her with us every day. It’s been difficult, but we’re doing well.”

The back-to-back defending World Series champions are 2-0 to start the MLB season.

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