Blake Treinen

Roberts: Roki Sasaki Will Be “Primary Option” In Save Situations

By Anthony Franco | October 7, 2025 at 7:41pm CDT

Roki Sasaki will operate as the Dodgers’ “primary option” in save situations, manager Dave Roberts told reporters this evening (relayed by Jack Harris of The Los Angeles Times). Roberts hedged on calling the rookie righty his full-time closer, noting that they can’t ask Sasaki to pitch in every game.

The Dodgers tried to avoid using Sasaki last night in Philadelphia. L.A. took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning with a chance to take a 2-0 series advantage. Roberts called upon Blake Treinen to handle the ninth. Treinen promptly surrendered hits to Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos to put the tying run on second without recording an out. Roberts then turned to southpaw Alex Vesia with left-handed hitting Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler due up.

Vesia recorded two outs, including a force play on Castellanos at third when the Phils called for Stott to sacrifice. Roberts finally turned to Sasaki to face Trea Turner with runners on the corners and two away in a 4-3 game. He got a grounder to second to earn the save. It was the first time in his MLB career that he was called upon in the middle of an inning.

Sasaki has now finished three of the Dodgers’ four postseason games. He wrapped up the Wild Card Series by tossing a scoreless ninth inning to complete a 8-4 win over the Reds. That wasn’t a save situation but was essentially treated as such with a chance to lock down the series and get two off days before the start of the Philly series. Sasaki got his first save in Game 1 of the NLDS, tossing a scoreless ninth to close a 5-3 victory.

The bullpen is the biggest question as the Dodgers try to repeat as World Series winners. Vesia is their only traditional reliever who has been a lockdown presence this year. Treinen allowed 10 earned runs across 9 1/3 innings in September and certainly looked beatable in Game 2. Tanner Scott, the primary closer for most of the year, allowed a 4.74 ERA over 61 regular season appearances. The Dodgers haven’t used him in the playoffs yet. Converted starters Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan have gotten high-leverage work. Roberts also called on Tyler Glasnow for an inning and two thirds out of the bullpen in Game 1 of the NLDS. Glasnow would start Game 4 if the Phils can stave off elimination tomorrow night.

Dodgers Notes: Snell, Ohtani, Rotation, Miller, Treinen

By Mark Polishuk | July 27, 2025 at 6:34pm CDT

Blake Snell threw 76 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday, and it would appear as though this fourth rehab outing will also be the left-hander’s last. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) that Snell will be activated from the 60-day injured list this week, and the club will move to a six-man rotation.

It has been a long road back for Snell, who appeared in just two games for L.A. before shoulder inflammation put him on the shelf in the first week of April. Some renewed soreness in the later part of April led to both an injection in Snell’s shoulder and a shutdown from throwing, which led to this lengthy stint on first the 15-day and eventually the 60-day IL.

The lingering shoulder problem is the latest setback in Snell’s checkered injury history, adding to his reputation as something of an all-or-nothing pitcher. When Snell is healthy and available, there are few (if any) better pitchers in the game, as evidenced by Snell’s two Cy Young Awards and his tendency to catch fire in later in the season. As we saw just last season with the Giants, Snell battled injuries and ineffectiveness in the first three months of the 2024 campaign before delivering an absurd 1.23 ERA in his final 14 starts and 80 1/3 innings of action.

Time will tell if Snell can deliver anything close to that in his return to the Los Angeles rotation, but his impending return should be a nice boost to a Dodgers pitching staff that has been crushed by injuries all year. The move to the six-man rotation reflects this improved rotation health, and the club’s desire to manage everyone’s innings in an attempt to preserve the starters’ arms over the rest of the season and through October. If all goes well, the staff will consist of Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and one of Dustin May or Emmet Sheehan.

This isn’t the first time the Dodgers adopted a six-man rotation, and the ragged nature of the team’s pitching health has already led to a pretty irregular deployment of the starters. There’s also the Ohtani factor, as the two-way star is still slowly building up his innings. Ohtani has tossed three frames in each of his last two starts, with May and Sheehan working as piggyback starters in support.

Ohtani is now expected to pitch four innings for his next two starts, Roberts said, so the team will be setting aside the piggyback plan for now. This doesn’t mean Ohtani is going to be viewed as a regular starter per se, as Roberts explained. “We’re not going to have the reins off where we’re going to say, ’Hey, you can go 110 pitches.’ I don’t see that happening for quite some time,” the skipper said. “So I think that staying at four [innings] for a bit, to then build up to five and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Ohtani’s next two starts will come on Wednesday against the Reds, and then on August 6 against the Cardinals. Notably, the Dodgers don’t play on either of the days following Ohtani’s two scheduled starts, as Roberts said the intent is to give Ohtani some built-in recovery time following his pitching outings before returning to his usual DH duty.

There is still plenty of fluidity in the six-man rotation plan, so Roberts didn’t want to commit to stating which of May or Sheehan could be remaining in the rotation and which might be moved to bullpen duty. Describing the Dodgers’ pitching depth as a surplus is probably misleading given how more injuries could arise at any time, yet Los Angeles is addressing its number of starters at the Triple-A level by moving Bobby Miller from rotation duty to a relief job.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported yesterday about Miller’s role change, and Roberts confirmed the plan today. “I think that this might be something that unlocks him. Going hard for a shorter period of time, to get some confidence for him, which could help us here,” Roberts said.

Selected 29th overall by the Dodgers in the 2020 draft, Miller posted a 3.76 ERA over 22 starts and 124 1/3 innings in his 2023 rookie season, but that promising beginning gave way to an 8.85 ERA in 61 big league innings since Opening Day 2024. Shoulder problems cost Miller two months of the 2024 season but his struggles have continued into this year, including a 5.58 ERA at Triple-A Oklahoma City and continued control issues. Miller’s walk rate (15.4%) is almost as high as his strikeout rate (17.9%) over his rough 69 1/3 Triple-A frames this year.

Returning to the Major League bullpen mix, the Dodgers welcomed Blake Treinen back from the 60-day injured list today. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski was also called up from Triple-A, while righties Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein were optioned to Oklahoma City.

Treinen posted a 3.38 ERA over eight relief innings for Los Angeles before right forearm tightness led to almost three and a half months on the sidelines. While the veteran’s health is still a concern given his significant injury history, Treinen was a major bullpen weapon for the Dodgers as recently as last year, when he posted a 1.93 ERA over 46 2/3 innings in the regular season, and then a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 postseason frames. His return won’t halt the Dodgers’ plan to acquire more high-leverage bullpen help at the deadline, but Treinen could help the club fulfill part of that need from within.

Dodgers Acquire Ryan Loutos, Claim J.P. Feyereisen

By Darragh McDonald | May 1, 2025 at 4:15pm CDT

The Dodgers have acquired right-hander Ryan Loutos from the Cardinals in exchange for cash and claimed righty J.P. Feyereisen off waivers from the Diamondbacks, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Loutos trade was previously reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Dodgers moved righties Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech to the 60-day injured list to open 40-man roster spots for the two pickups.

Loutos, 26, has had a somewhat unusual trajectory to the big leagues, as explored in this profile from Goold last year. Due to his computer science background, the Cards hired him to develop an app to help minor leaguers use data, and let him pitch as well. “I know what I need to do to improve. I know what I could do,” Loutos said. “But I also know from their shoes what they see: ‘OK, let him play for a while. See what happens. Worst-case scenario, we maybe offer him a job in the front office. Best-case scenario, maybe he’s in the big leagues someday.’”

So far, the playing part has worked out okay. He made his major league debut last year, though it was brief. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings over three appearances. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has logged 134 innings on the farm with a 5.10 earned run average, 24.2% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate.

Feyereisen, 32, has a much longer big league track record. In 2021, he tossed 56 innings between the Brewers and Rays with a 2.73 ERA. He managed to top that performance in 2022, tossing 24 1/3 scoreless innings, with a 29.1% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. However, a shoulder injury intervened and stopped him from building on those numbers.

He underwent shoulder surgery and was traded to the Dodgers ahead of the 2023 season. He hasn’t been able to fully re-establish himself in the majors since then. He eventually spent that entire 2023 season on the IL, not making an official appearance anywhere. The Dodgers shuttled him to Triple-A and back in 2024. He only got to pitch 11 big league innings, with an 8.18 ERA in those. His 5.48 ERA in Triple-A wasn’t especially impressive either.

He was outrighted off the roster last year, allowing him to elect free agency and sign a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks coming into 2025. He got called up a couple of weeks ago after posing a 0.96 ERA in Triple-A. He then allowed two earned runs in two innings for the Snakes before getting designated for assignment and put on waivers.

For the Dodgers, they are likely happy to have some fresh arms, one of which they are already familiar with. With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both on the IL due to shoulder inflammation, they are down to a four-man rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. The club is keeping Sasaki and Yamamoto on the weekly schedule the pitchers are accustomed to from their time in Japan.

That situation, plus plenty of other injuries, have led to a great deal of creativity in cobbling the staff together. Pitchers like Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller and Ben Casparius have made spot starts. Yoendrys Gómez, recently claimed off waivers from the Yankees, is working a long relief role. Both Loutos and Feyereisen have options, so the Dodgers are adding some arms with some roster flexibility. The team is about to start a stretch of playing ten straight games. After one off-day, they will play another nine straight.

To open spots for those two, Kopech and Treinen hit the 60-day IL. Kopech’s move isn’t especially surprising. He’s been on the 15-day IL all year long due to a shoulder impingement and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start one now, he would need a few weeks as a sort of delayed spring training. He could be reinstated from the IL in a couple of weeks but that doesn’t seem to be likely.

The move for Treinen is more notable. He started the season healthy but landed on the 15-day IL April 19th due to right forearm tightness. This transfer to the 60-day IL indicates the Dodgers don’t expect him back before the middle of June. He is 36 years old, turning 37 in June, and has a recent history of arm injuries. He only tossed five innings in 2022 due to shoulder problems and then underwent surgery which wiped out his 2023 campaign.

He got back on track last year with a 1.93 ERA in 46 2/3 innings, plus another 12 1/3 postseason innings with a 2.19 ERA, helping the Dodgers win the World Series. The team believed in that bounceback enough to give him a two-year, $22MM deal in free agency, the largest deal for a reliever going into his age-37 season or older since Mariano Rivera’s deal with the Yankees back in 2010.

Shortly after Treinen landed on the IL last month, manager Dave Roberts described the injury as a “low-grade sprain of the forearm” and downplayed the severity by saying “we’re in the dodged-a-bullet category.” It’s unclear if Roberts was just masking the extent of the injury or if something changed, but Treinen now appears to be slated for an absence of at least a couple of months.

Photo courtesy of John Geliebter, Imagn Images.

Dodgers Notes: Treinen, Snell, Glasnow

By Mark Polishuk | April 20, 2025 at 8:52pm CDT

Veteran reliever Blake Treinen was placed on the 15-day injured list yesterday due to tightness in his right forearm, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shed more light on Treinen’s situation when speaking with the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett and other reporters today. Specifically, Treinen has a “low-grade sprain of the forearm,” as Roberts described it, as some forearm discomfort throughout the week resurfaced Friday when Treinen was warming up to enter the game.

“He was one hitter away as he was warming up to go into the game,” Roberts said. “Obviously, if he were to pitch, it could have been potentially worse. So I would say we’re in the dodged-a-bullet category.”

An MRI revealed the sprain yesterday, and Treinen will get more testing done before a recovery timeline is established. Roberts’ view of the injury seemed relatively positive, though even if Treinen has avoided a more long-term problem, it stands to reason that he’ll miss more than just 15 days just out of natural precaution when dealing with forearm-related injuries.

Treinen’s first four seasons in Los Angeles yielded excellent (if often injury-plagued) results, leading to a two-year, $22MM deal to rejoin the club this past offseason. Treinen was off to a solid start in 2025, if a bit of a step back only in comparison to his past standards since coming to the Dodgers prior to the 2020 season. Over eight innings and eight appearances this year, Treinen has a 3.38 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate.

Turning to another Blake on the Dodgers’ injured list, Saturday marked Blake Snell’s first bullpen session since he was placed on the 15-day IL with left shoulder inflammation. Snell told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya that he will need at least one more bullpen and simulated game before exploring a rehab assignment, but as for the first step, Snell left his initial bullpen session feeling “way better.”

Snell hasn’t pitched since April 2, and it would seem like his IL stint will last over a month, given the number of steps remaining in the recovery process. While the shoulder inflammation doesn’t seem like anything too serious, it does add to Snell’s history of both injuries and first-half struggles. Snell did have a 2.00 ERA in his first two starts and nine innings of the 2025 season, but for his career, he has a 3.95 ERA prior to the All-Star break and then a 2.34 ERA in the second half.

The L.A. rotation had another minor injury scare in today’s 1-0 win over the Rangers, as Tyler Glasnow left with an apparent leg injury after throwing his first pitch of the fifth inning. Fortunately, the team announced that Glasnow left due to only leg cramps, and Glasnow told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other reporters that he believes he’ll be able to make his next start. The Dodgers have off-days on both Monday and Thursday this week, so Glasnow will get a full week before he is next scheduled to take the mound on April 27 against the Pirates.

Dodgers Activate Evan Phillips, Place Blake Treinen On 15-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | April 19, 2025 at 1:34pm CDT

The Dodgers will be activating right-hander Evan Phillips from the 15-day injured list prior to today’s game with the Rangers. In the corresponding move, righty Blake Treinen will be placed on the 15-day IL due to forearm tightness, as initially reported by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.

As manager Dave Roberts told Ardaya and other media members, Treinen has been feeling forearm discomfort for the last few days, and the discomfort increased yesterday during a bullpen session. The decision was then made to put Treinen on the injured list, and the reliever will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the problem.

Any forearm injury naturally seems a little ominous, and it would be another blow for a veteran reliever who has already spent a lot of time on the IL in recent years. Los Angeles also signed Treinen to a two-year, $22MM contract last winter, and as logical as that investment seemed based on Treinen’s on-field results, today’s news underlines the risk of committing bigger money to a veteran reliever (Treinen turns 37 in June) with a checkered injury history.

Shoulder problems kept Treinen out for most of the 2022 season and the entirety of the 2023 season, as he eventually required labrum and rotator cuff surgeries to fully correct the problem. His planned return for the start of the 2024 campaign was delayed by a bruised lung in Spring Training, and Treinen also had a brief IL stint during last season due to a hip issue.

Through it all, of course, Treinen has been good to great when he has been able to pitch. The righty’s five seasons in L.A. have resulted in a 2.34 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, and 7.6% walk rate across 157 2/3 relief innings. Treinen also has a 3.24 ERA in 33 1/3 postseason frames during his time with the Dodgers, earning championship rings in both 2020 and 2024.

Just as Treinen goes down, however, the Dodgers’ remarkable depth chart allows the club to immediately replace him with another high-leverage reliever just back from his own IL stint. Phillips was left off the World Series roster due to multiple injuries, most prominently a tear in a rotator cuff tendon that then delayed his usual offseason preparations. As a result, L.A. placed Phillips on the 15-day IL to begin the season in order to give the reliever more time to properly ramp up, and he’ll now be ready to make his 2025 debut as early as today.

Phillips’ exact role will be interesting to monitor, as he was the Dodgers’ primary closer in the previous two seasons yet Tanner Scott has now assumed that role in 2025. The club’s four-year, $72MM deal with Scott underlines the team’s commitment to giving Scott plenty of looks in late-game situations, though in February, Roberts said Scott would only receive the “brunt” of save chances, not all of them. As circumstances, matchups, injuries, and performance will dictate over the course of the season and into the playoffs, the Dodgers figure to give multiple pitchers the chance to earn saves. The left-handed Scott, for instance, could be brought into a game prior to the ninth inning should a rival team have an imposing set of left-handed hitters coming to the plate.

It makes for a pretty nice “problem” to have when a team can pick and choose between its many elite relievers, and Phillips has moved into that category over the last three seasons. Claimed off waivers from the Rays in an under-the-radar move in August 2021, Phillips posted a 2.21 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over 179 innings from 2022-24. He has 45 career saves out of 54 chances, all with the Dodgers except for one save recorded with Tampa Bay in 2021.

Dodgers Sign Blake Treinen

By Nick Deeds and Tim Dierkes | December 10, 2024 at 9:30am CDT

December 10: Treinen’s signing has now been officially announced by the Dodgers, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (X link).

December 9: Per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (X link), Treinen will get a $5MM signing bonus and there no deferrals on the deal.

December 8: The Dodgers are in agreement with right-hander Blake Treinen on a two-year deal worth $22MM, according to a report from Ari Alexander of KPRC2. It’s the largest deal for a reliever going into his age-37 or later season since the Yankees signed Mariano Rivera in 2010. Treinen is represented by Apex Baseball.

Treinen, 36, was the Dodgers’ highest-leverage reliever this year. Despite his fastball slipping nearly three miles per hour, he posted excellent marks with a 1.93 ERA, 30.4 K%, 6.0 BB%, and 44.7% groundball rate in 46 2/3 innings. Treinen has been with the Dodgers since signing a one-year, $10MM deal five years ago after the A’s non-tendered him.

Treinen has worked 149 2/3 regular season innings for the Dodgers from 2020-24, adding another 33 1/3 across four different postseasons. He remained the go-to reliever for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in tough spots as the club climbed through the postseason to win a championship. He made nine appearances this postseason, getting more than three outs in five of them. Treinen was the winning pitcher in the decisive Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees, stepping up with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Drafted in the seventh round by the A’s out of South Dakota State University in 2011, Treinen was shipped to the Nationals in January 2013 as part of a three-team deal that brought the Mariners Mike Morse. Somewhat of an afterthought in that deal, Treinen worked his way up to a high-leverage role in the Nationals’ bullpen by 2016. Treinen had a rough first half in 2017, and A’s GM Billy Beane made sure to reacquire the hard-throwing pitcher he’d drafted six years prior. The A’s sent Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to the Nats in that deal, bringing back Jesus Luzardo, Treinen, and Sheldon Neuse.

The trade back to Oakland proved a turning point in Treinen’s career, as he blossomed into one of the game’s best relievers. In fact, Treinen’s 0.78 ERA in 2018 stands as the lowest mark in MLB history for a pitcher with at least 80 innings. The combination of a temporary setback in 2019 (perhaps related to a back injury) and Treinen’s rising arbitration salaries led to the aforementioned non-tender, however.

Though Treinen had some struggles in the shortened 2020 season, he remained healthy and even picked up a save in Game 5 on the way to his first ring. The Dodgers re-upped him for two years and $17.5MM with a club option for a third year. He posted a superb 2021 season, but the following two years would be plagued by injuries.

Treinen was limited to a mere five regular season innings from 2022-23, due to a shoulder injury that culminated in November 2022 labrum and rotator cuff surgery. The Dodgers had previously secured a 2024 option that increased based on innings pitched, allowing them to retain Treinen for just $1MM this year. He made his season debut in May due a bruised lung, hitting the IL again in August with hip discomfort.

Given that the Mets intend to use Clay Holmes as a starting pitcher, the Treinen deal is just the second significant relief contract of the offseason, after the Red Sox signed Aroldis Chapman five days prior. Treinen will again slot into the late innings for the Dodgers alongside fellow righties Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech.

The Dodgers made a pair of notable signings Sunday evening, re-signing Treinen shortly after adding outfielder Michael Conforto on a one-year deal. The spotlight as we head into the Winter Meetings in Dallas, however, was on the Mets’ record-shattering 15-year, $765MM deal with Juan Soto. The Dodgers were in the mix for Soto, but never seemed to be the favorite. The Dodgers did make a splash already this winter by signing Blake Snell to a five-year, $182MM deal with deferrals.

With the additions of Snell, Conforto, and Treinen and an extension for Tommy Edman, RosterResource pegs the Dodgers’ competitive balance tax payroll at about $332MM, in a year where the fourth tax bracket sits at $301MM. Given that the Dodgers already exceeded that mark by signing Snell, adding Conforto and Treinen will in effect cost the Dodgers $58.8MM this year, given the club’s 110% tax bracket.

NL West Notes: Black, Treinen, Graterol, Rodriguez, Jones

By Mark Polishuk | August 18, 2024 at 5:58pm CDT

As the Rockies trudge through another rough year, there isn’t yet any indication over whether or not manager Bud Black could be returning for his ninth season. GM Bill Schmidt told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders that the team and Black will “talk at the end of the season” and that “there’s nothing more to report on that” for the time being. It isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for Black, who is on pace for his sixth straight losing season and his second straight year of at least 100 losses.

While Black’s contract is technically up after the season, his deal has been described in the past (by reporter Nick Groke) as “a rolling year-to-year contract.” In both February 2022 and 2023, the Rox announced a new one-year extension to Black’s deal, yet no such extension was announced this past spring even though the two sides had some talks about Black’s future. It could be that owner Dick Monfort’s well-known penchant for loyalty to his employees was running a little thin coming off a 103-loss season, or perhaps Black himself might be considering a different role at age 67. Saunders writes that Black “loves teaching young players and participating in the Rockies’ attempts to improve,” but has also “remained mum about” the possibility of returning as Colorado’s skipper.

Dodgers Activate Brusdar Graterol, Place Blake Treinen On IL

By Leo Morgenstern | August 6, 2024 at 7:18am CDT

Today: Following last night’s game, Roberts told Ardaya that Treinen felt a problem in his hip after his appearance on Sunday against the Athletics. It likely isn’t serious, however, and Treinen could return to the team as soon as his minimum 15 days on the IL are up.

August 5: The Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol from the 60-day injured list ahead of tonight’s game against the Phillies, the team announced. To make room on the active roster, the club placed fellow right-handed reliever Blake Treinen on the 15-day IL with left hip discomfort. The Dodgers already had an open spot for Graterol on their 40-man roster.

Graterol and Treinen both wound up on the IL in spring training, but while Treinen returned to the field in May, Graterol has been out all year. His injury was initially described as hip tightness and inflammation in his throwing shoulder, but seemingly, the shoulder issue was the bigger problem. He started throwing off a mound again in early April, but the Dodgers shut down his throwing program a few weeks later because his arm wasn’t bouncing back as well as they might have hoped. After that, the team seems to have decided to take things particularly slow with the young flamethrower. Graterol started throwing bullpen sessions in mid-June and began his minor league rehab assignment in mid-July. After eight rehab appearances, he is back in Dodgers blue for the first time this season.

After coming over from the Twins in 2020 as part of the package for Kenta Maeda, Graterol slowly became a key player in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He was an especially important piece for manager Dave Roberts from 2022-23, pitching to a 2.08 ERA and 3.06 SIERA in 114 games. Often serving as a set-up man for closers Craig Kimbrel and Evan Phillips, he led the team with 29 holds and ranked second among Dodgers relievers in Win Probability Added over those two years. Across his four seasons with the Dodgers, he has also made 21 appearances in the playoffs, pitching to a 1.71 ERA and 2.52 FIP.

Still just 25 years old, Graterol is making $2.7MM this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility. He is set to reach free agency following the 2026 campaign.

Treinen, 36, had been enjoying a triumphant comeback campaign after missing most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons with a shoulder injury. In 34 appearances, the righty has pitched to a 2.67 ERA and a 2.81 SIERA. His fastball velocity is down about three miles per hour, but his 30.6% strikeout rate is the highest it’s been since his All-Star season in 2018. That has a lot to do with his slider, which has been one of the best whiff-inducing pitches in baseball this season. Thus, Roberts has given Treinen the ball in plenty of high-leverage spots; no Dodgers pitcher has a higher average leverage index when entering games in 2024 (per FanGraphs).

It is unclear how serious Treinen’s injury is or how much time he will miss. However, if Graterol picks up where he left off in 2023, the Dodgers will have no trouble replacing Treinen’s production at the back end of the bullpen. What’s more, right-hander Michael Grove is also nearing his return from the injured list, which will give L.A. another right-handed option for the bullpen.

Dodgers Place Evan Phillips On 15-Day Injured List

By Nick Deeds | May 5, 2024 at 2:08pm CDT

The Dodgers announced this afternoon that right-hander Evan Phillips has been place on the 15-day injured list, with veteran righty Blake Treinen being activated off the IL in the corresponding move. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) this afternoon that Phillips suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain when his spike caught in the outfield grass while playing catch yesterday. Roberts added that the club is hoping that Phillips will only require a minimum stint on the shelf due to the issue.

Even if Phillips only requires the 15 day minimum, the news is still a major blow to the Dodgers. The 29-year-old has been among the most dominant relievers in baseball this year with a microscopic 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings of work to go with eight saves, a 1.32 FIP, and a 30.9% strikeout rate. The righty has been an anchor for the club’s bullpen, which has struggled somewhat despite a decent 3.47 ERA overall.

The group’s collective 4.19 FIP is bottom-ten in the majors and its xFIP, fWAR, and groundball rate are all well below league average. Perhaps most concerning of all is that the club’s relief corps isn’t striking many batters out; only the Giants’, Diamondbacks’, and Rockies’ relievers have struck out batters at a lower clip. Those lackluster metrics are further compounded by the club’s overuse of the bullpen to this point in the season; Dodgers relief arms have thrown a whopping 142 2/3 innings this season, second to only the Marlins in the majors.

Given the state of the club’s bullpen, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Roberts told reporters he wasn’t sure who would close games while Phillips is on the shelf. Daniel Hudson appears to be the most obvious choice, as he’s acted as the club’s primary set-up man this season and sports a solid 3.60 ERA in 15 appearances, but he’s blown back-to-back save opportunities and has already allowed four home runs this year. Joe Kelly has been Hudson’s partner in setting up for Phillips, but the veteran righty has struggled to a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings of work this season.

It’s possible then, that Treinen could find himself thrust into the closer’s role now that he’s back in the big leagues. The right-hander has always been nothing short of excellent for the club when healthy: in 103 innings of work in a Dodgers uniform, Treinen boasts a 2.45 ERA and 3.00 FIP with a 27.6% strikeout rate and a 56.2% groundball rate. He’s certainly found success in the closer’s role before as well, including the 2018 campaign when he posted a 0.78 ERA in 80 1/3 innings of work for the A’s while picking up 38 saves and finish sixth in AL Cy Young award voting.

Despite his excellent resume, however, closing games would be a tall ask for a pitcher who last appeared on a big league mound in 2022 and has just five innings of work to his name since the end of the 2021 season. It’s possible, then, that the club could simply opt for a closer-by-committee situation while Phillips is on the shelf, particularly if the injury ends up being as minor as currently believed. In that case, Treinen could get occasional save opportunities alongside the likes of Hudson, Alex Vesia, and perhaps even Michael Grove.

Dodgers Notes: Treinen, Heyward, Kershaw

By Nick Deeds | May 4, 2024 at 9:59pm CDT

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.

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