Dodgers Interview: Can 2024 hero Treinen recapture his form? Doc thinks so.
CAMELBACK RANCH, AZ– With an epic run in the 2024 postseason, Blake Treinen‘s place in Dodger history is secure. But as they say, that was then, and this is now. Does the 37-year-old veteran reliever, now entering his seventh year as an LA Dodger, have what it takes to regain his filthy form of days gone by?
Absolutely, according to skipper Dave Roberts. Doc reported that Treinen looked sharp throwing in camp. Asked what Treinen has left at this stage, Roberts didn’t hesitate with his assessment. “A lot in the tank,” he said. “I know that the age is one thing, but for me it’s what I see and what the ball’s doing. He’s healthy again. He’s throwing the baseball. The ball’s coming out really well. The body’s moving well. He’s still strong.”
Roberts even gave a small window into what those bullpen looks have been like from his vantage point. “I saw his bullpen a couple days ago, and a few days ago and yesterday,” he said. “It’s as good as I’ve seen the baseball in a while.”
Indeed, pretty much everyone, Treinen included, would like to forget the way 2025 ended for the righthander. After a rocky start, he seemed to recover his mojo in late summer, and by the end of August, he ERA sat at a respectable 3.12. Then, a September to NOT remember: 1-5 with a 9.64 ERA with a blown save thrown in there for good measure. And the blown save was a doozy. It was Treinen who gacked up the win in Yoshinobu Yamamoto‘s near-miss no-hitter in Baltimore. His postseason wasn’t much better. An 8.31ERA spread over ten appearances in October. It was… not good.
So how does that sputtering ending translate into usage once the games count in 2026? Roberts framed it around trust and feel. “I certainly trust him,” he said. “It’s going to be high leverage. How much we lean on him, that’s dependent on how he’s feeling and who else we have around him and how they’re throwing the baseball. But right now, he’s a full participant. He’s throwing the baseball well, feels good, and we’ll go from there.”
The good news is that we don’t need peak Blake Treinen to be a successful team this year. We the 1-2 punch of Diaz and Scott, the back end seems to be in good shape. It will be up to Roberts to deploy Treinen where he can be his old self.
But make no mistake, give the Dodgers a resurgent Treinen and a rejuvenated Tanner Scott, and the game gets real short, real fast. Let’s hope Doc is right on this one.
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