Fans of Dodgers right-hander Blake Treinen received some disappointing news on Wednesday evening, when it was reported by Dodgers General Manager Brandon Gomes (through several media sources) that the 34-year-old Wichita, KS native and seventh round draft pick in 2011 by the Oakland A’s out of South Dakota State University would probably begin the 2023 campaign on the injured list for on-going “shoulder discomfort.” And even though surgery is not scheduled at this time, Gomes indicated that surgery as one of multiple options under consideration.

Treinen appeared in only five regular season games for the Dodgers in 2022, during which he went 1-1 with an impressive 1.80 ERA.

That’s the good news.

The not so good news is that he was on the IL from April to September, and when he finally did return to action in early September, he made only two appearances before landing back on the IL.

The Dodgers did activate Treinen for the 2022 National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, but used him only once and for only 1.0 inning in Game-2.

It did not go well.

In his only 2022 postseason inning pitched – the top of the eighth inning of Game-2 at Dodger Stadium on October 12 – Treinen faced seven Padres batters, allowing one run on one hit (a solo home run by Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth), while walking two and striking out one on 25 total pitches in the eventual 5-3 Dodgers loss.

Needless to say, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts received harsh criticism from the media (and fans) for leaving his clearly struggling right-hander in the game for seven batters. Many considered this to be the turning point of the series.

On the bright side, if you can call it that, the Dodgers have an $8 million team option on Treinen for the 2023 season, or a $1.5 million buyout. As such, and depending on that surgery thing, they will probably wait until Opening Day 2023 (or close to it) before deciding whether or not to buy him out of his (to that point) two-year/$17.5 million contract for only $1.5 million, or pay him the $8 million it will cost them if they choose to keep him … whether he is ready to return to action of not.

Stay tuned…

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