While the Los Angeles Dodgers have largely turned things around down the stretch after a rocky summer, one player who remains very much a question mark heading into the postseason is Blake Treinen, the 2024 playoff hero who missed months with forearm tightness.
Speaking to reporters about the state of the Dodgers heading into a series in Arizona with the NL West pennant up for grabs, even Dave Roberts had to admit that he isn't completely sold on keeping Treinen in his playoff plans, with a few good outings needed to build up everyone's confidence before October.
“At the end of the day, there are certain guys I'm going to go to in leverage, and certain guys I'm not going to go to, and my trust in him is unwavering — I still feel confident in him,” Roberts said via The OC Register.
“I've got to trust what I'm seeing, and not solely bet on the person or track record. We all need to see a couple good outings but most importantly, I want to see his confidence up. And to be quite honest, I think that right now he's just not as confident in himself as I am in him.”
Since returning from IL, Treinen has been one of Los Angeles' least consistent bullpen options, allowing 19 hits versus 23 strikeouts over 16.1 innings of action with an ERA of 6.61 and three blown saves in 21 games of action. Treinen's command has been all over the place, as his 15 walks highlight, and he simply hasn't looked like the guy who threw a few innings in Game 5 of the World Series to set up Walker Buehler for a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the Commissioner's Trophy.
With six more games left to play, maybe Treinen will be able to instill that confidence in Roberts, but if the division comes down to the final game or two, it will be interesting to see if the skipper is willing to call No. 49's number in a high-leverage situation.
