Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen battled shoulder discomfort in 2022 and missed the bulk of his year. Unfortunately, that remains a problem heading into the offseason, and it seems as if the injury will carry into next season.
L.A. general manager Brandon Gomes told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this evening the team and Treinen are still working through treatment possibilities. While Gomes characterized surgery as one of multiple options under consideration, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register ominously reports that a procedure is “likely.” If Treinen did have to go under the knife, Plunkett adds, he’d require a 10-month recovery period and thus miss most or all of the 2023 campaign.
Treinen was limited to just five regular season appearances this year. He was on the injured list from April to September. Reinstated at the start of September, he made just two appearances before going back on the IL. The Dodgers activated Treinen for the postseason, calling upon him just once.
The injuries that caused that stop-and-start remain a concern, and Plunkett writes that both Treinen’s rotator cuff and labrum would be fixed if he goes under the knife. That’s certainly not what the Dodgers envisioned when signing the right-hander to an $8MM contract for 2023 in May. That deal also contains a club option for the 2024 campaign that’d be valued anywhere between $1MM and $7MM depending upon Treinen’s health for next season. Obviously, surgery wiping out much or all of his season — if necessary — would make it unlikely the Dodgers would trigger the option.
During his last healthy season, the veteran sinkerballer was one of the sport’s top late-game arms. The former All-Star worked to a 1.99 ERA across 72 1/3 innings in 2021, racking up grounders at a 52.6% clip.
Always liked Blake hope he can go through his shoulder problems safely.
Wasted a whole season avoiding the obvious.
I agree. Without knowing the details of course, it seems like this could have been done much earlier.
Somebody gonna lose their job over that dumbazz decision
He’s never going to be the same if he goes under the knife, which is why they tried to rehab it. It’s not like TJ surgery.
The problem is… they don’t lose their jobs
He was out since early April. Shouldn’t have been allowed to pitch at that point. Definitely should not have made the postseason roster. And give him a guaranteed contract WHILE he’s out with an arm injury? Yeah I get it’s not a lot relatively speaking but still, it is dollars towards the luxury tax, if that’s a thing they’re looking to get under. It could be the difference between bringing back a Tyler Anderson, for example.
They did the same thing with Jimmy Nelson. They signed him to a year + an option knowing that he would miss the entire 2022 season, and then guess what? They declined his option for 2023! What was the point of wasting $1.1 M on Nelson if they knew what type of injury he had and they weren’t going to bring him back anyway?
They did the same thing with Daniel Hudson and he could miss a good chunk of the 2023 season as well. Will they decline his option for 2024 too?
Maybe they should buy low on Buehler and extend him now with a club option because that seems to be their thing. At least Buehler’s a starter.
I know the front office is the best in baseball, but sometimes I just smh at some of their decisions. I hope they just let Treinen go under the knife and get it over with
You do realize teams have zero right to tell a player to get career altering surgery right, Señor? or ANY medical procedure?
Absolutely zero. It is the player’s decision, fully.
Wasted two. I had that surgery when I was 21. It’d be a miracle if he even were able to pitch in September ‘23. The surgery is gnarly. They basically take you arm off, cut out the damaged labrum and Dremel your shoulder until it’s clean of burs and dents. They then use titanium screws to secure your ligament to the rest of your upper body. I have range of motion constraints but I had a rotator cuff and a blown bicep tendon. Basketball courts are hard.
He’s a 30+ year old RP without a long term contract. Really not shocking he tried to avoid a surgery that is infamous for destroying careers…
It’s incredible how many sports medicine experts post on this site, and they have access to private medical records too.
If you read the article it describes the injury as one that describes the need for at a minimum a coastalorthoteam.com/blog/what-is-a-bankart-lesion… repair. My ortho was at the time the ortho for the then LA Raiders. So yeah, I’m totally over-stating my experience with the same operation and a bit more cutting.
If you’ve got relevant experience as a provider or as a patient of shoulder surgery I’d love for you to opine I’d love to hear it so we can establish your bonafides.
oceanorthopedics.com/thomas-f-golden-md.html
Plunkett writes that both Treinen’s rotator cuff and labrum would be fixed if he goes under the knife. As being in the Dodgers media market it was also noted that there’s a need for a ligament reattachment – which is fun to explain when you try to get on an airplane. Fortunately it comes with a fairly notable scar. Labrum = capsule.
Oh smacky laid the smack down with the knowledge
@ Smacky. I was responding to comments from those who said it was obvious that Treinen required surgery, as if they’re sports medicine experts and have access to Treinen’s medical records. Hard to miss the fact that the people who are and do apparently haven’t even made the treatment decision yet. I’m not the one pretending to have knowledge and expertise that I don’t have, I’m simply pointing how some who post here suddenly seem to acquire it. Happens every single time.
No worries!
Didn’t they just extend him during the season?
I think it was just for the option for 2023
Well, we can rule out his upper arm being sore from a vaccine.
Why do you even care? Move on with your life. Hope Blake gets back quickly- padres fan
We all care. Thats why we log on to comment.
How long is he out of the procedure? Should really get it done ASAP
It’s in the article and says 10 months. 10 months isn’t realistic and even if he’s good to go 10 months from own he still won’t have pitched since April of ‘22. He’s gonna need a long “spring training” with no set backs to get his arm back. The idea that he could do it in a month and then be at the back end of a playoff bullpen is unrealistic and ludicrous. It makes no sense to bring him back next year, wait for ‘24 and hope he can still throw competitive pitches.
The article also said that surgery is only one of the treatment options under consideration. So we’ll know when we know.
Relax everyone, he’s going to do his own research & avoid surgery
Isn’t there some sheep de-wormer that helps you regrow cartilage and helps your ligaments reattach on their own?
2024 would work for $1m