40-man breakdown: Blake Treinen

3 min readMay 19, 2020

Blake Treinen (center) talks to Dodger catcher Austin Barnes and assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

by Cary Osborne

(Editor’s Note: For the next few weeks, Dodger Insider will analyze a different member of the Dodgers’ 40-man roster every weekday. The series continues alphabetically with Blake Treinen.)

Position: RHP
Previous Years with Dodgers: None
Age: 31
Contract: Signed through 2020

2019 Summary: Coming off one of the greatest seasons ever — emphasis on ever — by a relief pitcher, Treinen continued to dominate in the beginning weeks of 2019 with the Oakland A’s. Through 11 games, he allowed one earned run in 13 1/3 innings, struck out 17 batters and saved six games. But Treinen battled a series of injuries — to his shoulder, elbow and back — during the season. From April 28 on, he had a 6.15 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 46 games (45 1/3 innings). Over the full season, he had a 4.91 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in 57 games.

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Best ’19 Moment: The A’s and Mariners opened up the Major League Baseball season in Tokyo on March 20 and 21. On March 21, Treinen entered the game in the top of the ninth with the score tied 4–4. In the ninth, he struck out the first two batters he faced. He did the same in the 10th inning as well. The right-hander retired all six batters he faced.

Standout Stat: After an 0–2 count, opponents were 4-for-46 (.087) against Treinen in 2019.

Statcast Stat: Treinen’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.0 mph last year — tied for 31st fastest in the big league among pitchers who threw the pitch at least 100 times.

Interesting Fact: Treinen studied landscape architecture in college at the University of Arkansas and South Dakota State.

Where He Stands: In 2018, Treinen had a 0.78 ERA — the lowest ERA all time by a relief pitcher who pitched at least 80 innings in a season, according to Baseball Reference. He had an 0.83 WHIP, limited opponents to a .158/.217/.199./417 slash line and saved 38 games. Treinen was an All-Star and finished sixth in the American League Cy Young Award balloting.

With Kenley Jansen serving as the Dodgers’ closer and a talented group surrounding him, Treinen could set-up and/or be a high-leverage out-getter in middle relief. He could also close if Jansen needs a breather. There is a lot of optimism that Treinen can once again be one of the game’s dominant relief pitchers. After signing with the Dodgers as a free agent on Dec. 15, the veteran reliever went right to work game-planning with the Dodger coaching staff on how to attack 2020. In Spring Training, he was healthy and showed a quiet intensity about his work. Treinen starts 2020 as a one of baseball’s best bounce-back candidates.