Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) this evening that veteran right-hander Blake Treinen is “likely” to be activated off the 15-day injured list prior to tomorrow’s game against the Braves. A corresponding move will be necessary to add him to the club’s active roster.
Treinen, 36 in June, last pitched in the majors back in 2022 and hasn’t pitched a full season since 2021 due to a number of injuries, including shoulder surgery. That said, the veteran enjoyed four scoreless appearances in Spring Training and appeared set to rejoin the club’s roster before he was struck by the injury bug once again. This time, Treinen was hit in the chest by a comebacker and suffered fractured ribs and a bruised lung, though he’s steadily progressed since then and appears to now be poised to return to a major league mound for the first time in nearly two years.
When healthy enough to take the mound, Treinen has been among the most dominant relievers in the league since a breakout 2019 season with the A’s that saw him finish sixth in AL Cy Young award voting after posting a 0.78 ERA with a 1.82 FIP in 80 1/3 innings of work while striking out 31.7% of batters faced. His work with the Dodgers since joining the club prior to the 2020 season hasn’t been on quite that otherworldly level, but he’s nonetheless been a dominant force at the back of the club’s bullpen when healthy with a 2.45 ERA and 3.00 FIP with a 27.6% strikeout rate and a 56.2% groundball rate in 103 innings of work as a Dodger.
Given those excellent numbers, it’s perhaps not a surprise that DiGiovanna relays that Roberts “won’t hesitate” to use the veteran in high-leverage situations upon his return. While Evan Phillips has locked down the closer’s role in L.A. with a 0.66 ERA and eight saves in 14 appearances this year, the rest of the club’s bullpen has struggled somewhat as the relief corps sports a collective FIP of 4.12, better than only the Rockies and Reds among NL clubs. With veteran set-up men Daniel Hudson and Joe Kelly looking somewhat shaky so far this season, it would hardly be a surprise to see the club turn to Treinen to help strengthen the bridge between the rotation and Phillips.
Elsewhere on the roster, outfielder Jason Heyward is making progress in his rehab from a bout of lower back tightness that sent him to the injured list just four games into the 2024 campaign, with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reporting that the veteran took batting practice today for the first time since suffering the injury. Heyward struggled badly at the plate for many years during his ill-fated eight-year contract with the Cubs but revived his career in L.A. last year, slashing a respectable .269/.340/.473 in 124 games as the club’s regular right fielder.
Heyward appeared poised to man right field for the club on a regular basis once again this year but his role upon his return to action has become less clear thanks to the breakout of outfield prospect Andy Pages, who had slashed an impressive .333/.354/.567 in 65 trips to the plate entering play this evening. Assuming the Dodgers want to keep Pages’s bat in the lineup, Heyward may be left to compete with the likes of James Outman and Chris Taylor for playing time in the club’s outfield mix.
Another veteran making progress in his rehab is future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who JP Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation notes threw a 15-pitch bullpen off the mound yesterday. It was his first time throwing off a mound since he underwent shoulder surgery this past winter. Hoornstra added that Kershaw’s exact timetable for return is not yet known, though his stated goal of returning to the majors at some point this summer looks very feasible given the progress he’s made to this point. Kershaw is one of a whopping seven starting pitchers currently on the major league injured list with the Dodgers, though the number will drop to six when right-hander Walker Buehler makes his season debut on Monday when he’ll re-enter the rotation alongside Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, James Paxton, and Gavin Stone.
I know a fairly recent Cy Young winner who pitched 7 and a third scoreless in Mexico last sunday that they could sign right now for the league minimum…
So your pet gorilla is still writing the legendary moron posts I see.
Mad?
Is it Super Nintendo Chalmers?
Do you really believe, at all, that after the way everything played out that either side would ever consider a reunion? That’s like divorcing your abusive ex just to re-marry your abusive ex…
Where else is he gonna go?
Nowhere. Like it or not Bauer is a pariah and has probably thrown his last MLB pitch
Bro. You’re a padres fan and your city is the one who caused this. Literally go talk to Lindsey to set the record straight
Whenever I hear or read the name JP Hoornstra, a laugh comes out remembering the preseason drama.
That’s sad because he’s the most reliable dodgers best writer. Plaschke and Hernandez are jokes and Toribio is a mouthpiece for the LA FO. You would think people care about honesty and integrity
Should have titled this article “The Three Stooges. Doyers, Finest”
AI would’ve written a comment that made more sense than that one, but it’s good to keep trying!
San diego fans always stay classy in last place
I hope Kershaw and Heyward don’t kill the vibe when they come back. This group of guys is playing well together
Heyward shouldn’t have problems getting playing time if his competition are Outman and Taylor….
4 for 51 with 24 strikeouts, Taylor may want to consider changing his name to “Out-man”…
Though when the Dodgers need to clear roster space for Heyward, it’s player with that name for real who will be optioned.
Outman being optioned is the easiest decision possible. He is not a major league player this season.
LA can and should keep Heyward on the rehab assignment for the max allowable time. That will give them plenty of time to conjure the scenario of DFAing Taylor. Seriously, that time has actually been here for a couple years or so, and his corpse isn’t getting any fresher.
I’d bet again a DFA for Taylor. The Dodgers have $30m wrapped up in him, and they’ve seen his offensive struggles before and they’ve always been worked out. He is also too valuable on defense to just toss aside. The obvious scenario is optioning Outman. He hasn’t exactly been ripping it up with the bat either.
Andy Pages has won himself a spot on this roster. No way the Dodgers send him down to make room for anyone. He deserves to keep his spot as a starter. What a fun player to watch.
It’s always a good story when a prospect turns into the real thing — but always with a footnote. It’s only a matter of time before the opposition finds the weaknesses in his strike zone and starts to exploit them. Then he has to make adjustments in real time if he’s going to stay up. So don’t be shocked if his hot bat cools off or even if he gets sent back down for a while to work on some things. It happens more often than not. Speaking of footnotes, Pages was one in the trade that was going to send Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling to the Angels a few years ago until Moreno put the kibosh on that deal.
Is MLB done with investigating Ohtani?
For what exactly? There has never been any evidence of wrong doing by Ohtani, so why investigate? You must be one of those “guilty until proven innocent” girls.
What is there to investigate? 3 federal law enforcement agencies with legal authority found 0 evidence that Ohtani was involved in illegal activity and said he was a victim. What is MLB going to do with 0 legal power.
MLB will be interested in the federal investigation into the illegal bookmaker, at least as far as it might find other MLB employees were clients. Otherwise, nothing to see here. The perp has already confessed.