To say that “Relief Pitchers are Volatile“… is an incredible understatement! In AA and NA culture, they often say: “From a hopeless dope fiend to a dopeless hope fiend.” Relief pitchers can be maddening. In 2022, Andrew Friedman said this in a SI interview:
“Relievers, unlike starters, or position players, can be great one season, and a disaster the next. Which makes it all that more risky to shell out major trade capital for a player that’s great right now, but has no guarantee of repeating the success the following season.”
— SI
He also said this is an interview with The Athletic:
“I hate trading for relievers at the deadline. It’s my least favorite thing to do. The acquisition cost is totally out of whack. So I like to avoid it as much as possible.”
— Fabian Ardaya
Then, in the offseason between 2024 and 2025, he proceeded to violate that premise. He signed Blake Treinen to a two-year/$22 million dollar deal, Kirby Yates to a 1-year/$13-million dollar deal, and Tanner Scott to a 4-year/$72 million dollar deal. “Violate” may be too strong a word. However, in 2025, the Dodgers blew 27 saves! Tanner Scott led all of MLB with 10 blown saves. Depending upon the source, Alex Vesia was charged with 4 or 5 blown saves. Blake Treinen blew 3, and Kirby Yates blew 2. Treinen lost 7 games, while Scott lost four and Yates lost 3. If the Dodgers had converted all their saves, they would have won 120 games! Of course, if chickens had lips, they would be people.
Blake Treinen has one more year on his contract for $13.5 million. He will be 38 years old, and while he can hit 97 MPH (on occasion), his velocity has decreased dramatically. Every pitch he threw to Castellanos was in the mid-80s. Only time will tell, but I think he is done. Kirby Yates will be 39 next year, and I cannot see him coming back unless it’s on an incentive-laden deal. We have Tanner Scott for three more years, and while you never know, I think there is a good chance he bounces back and becomes a top reliever again. Relievers are volatile. David Bednar and Devin Williams come to mind.
So, should the Dodgers go out and get another closer? Absolutely not! I look for a bounce-back from Scott, and the Dodgers’ system is loaded with live arms. Bazooka Graterol is due back, and so is Kyle Hurt. Of course, Gavin Stone is also due back, but most likely as a starter. Then there are Brock Stewart, River Ryan, Nick Frasso, Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Paul Gervase, Michael Grove, Edgardo Henriquez, Will Klien, Bobby Miller, Alex Vesia, Justin Wrobleski, and a plethora of other prospects.
Michael Kopech is a free agent, and someone might offer him a substantial amount of money – it should not be the Dodgers. Tony Gonsolin and Landon Knack are also factors next year, but I could see a situation where the Dodgers ask Roki Sasaki to pitch another season out of the bullpen. The Dodgers have plenty of arms, but with the retirement of Clayton Kershaw, they need another left-hander in the rotation. That could be Jackson Ferris, Adam Serwinowski, or Justin Wrobleski.
At some point, the Dodgers will have to address their surplus of pitchers, but right now, they have an NLDS to win and then an NLCS to contend with against the Brewers. Memo to Doc Roberts and the Dodger Brass: Leave Treinen and Scott off the roster the rest of this year. Cut out the Dope-Fiend Moves! Blake Treinen may be… actually IS a great guy, but he is not the pitcher he once was. Deal with it.
HEART OF A CHAMPION.
ONE MORE TO GO.
anyone who hates on Miggy Rojas is the ultimate moron! he is not an everyday player. he is not a power hitter. he is not a great base stealer. he isn’t a .300 hitter. BUT! what he is ? he’s contact cement! Apply him to any position, any situation, any situation that needs attention, and he instantly bonds with it. No he doesn’t stand out in an infield of stars with big stats. But he’s so important, maybe just as important as any of his teammates! Don’t be shocked if he’s on the dodgers roster next season! He’s earned it! …….. I didn’t listen to Doc’s reasoning for going with Blake last night. Love Doc, but didn’t want to hear it. As Mark says, move on! if he uses him again in that situation? Please have his head examined! …. Mookie Betts is shortstop # 1 in the national league! maybe in baseball! …. Would be nice to get something from Andy Pages at the plate! …. Does Ben R. start wednesday behind the plate? Why not? It’s working out so far! Will is getting back to being Will without being overused!……Blake Snell? He’s as dominant as any pitcher in baseball! Only thing that keeps him from being the best in baseball? not being able to get deeper in games. Now 6 innings in this era are considered a good to great start. But if one hit over 6 innings is good enough for the Dodgers, i guess it’s good enough for me! But they better have an answer in the bullpen for the last 3 innings . So what if Snell takes the first couple of months off? Damn he’s good! …. Nola tomorrow. No time to let up! finish this off! Max comes up big! …. Milwaukee is good! in case nobody noticed. The dodgers need to take care of business first. But i’m sure the boys in blue have some payback in their minds for the 6 games they lost to the Brew Crew! …. Have to admit, hopefully the Jays finish off the yankees today! Also hope Seattle wins the next 2 in Detroit! … Isn’t baseball the best? love college football, college basketball, nascar, and starting to enjoy the NFL again. But nothing beats Baseball! Nothing!
Doc has been nearly flawless the last two postseasons, but bringing Treinen in there was definitely a head-scratcher. He redeemed himself by managing the rest of the inning perfectly, so hopefully the lesson was learned: don’t overthink it! Just watching Roki in the bullpen, you could tell he wanted in the game—his confidence right now is off the charts. Also, can we get some love for Vesia? The guy pitches in pretty much every playoff game and always comes in to clean up a mess during the most high-pressure moments. And more often than not, he delivers.
The upside is that Roki only pitched a few pitches. I don’t think he’s relieved enough to know how soon he could bounce back from say a 20 pitch inning. But he’ll be plenty good to go for Wednesday now.
I guess I am the only one to say OK with not pitching Sasaki to start the inning. He cant be expected to be the closer for 11 games, even if he is rested. We have seen in the past when ‘lockdown’ closers fail when the team gets to see him too many times in the short playoff setup. So Treinen was awful. Coming off his last outing where he got the job down. He was the logical choice. Especially up 3 runs
Blake had three strikeouts at last outing. He kind of looked fixed. Then last night back to hanging them right down the middle. Frankly, I thought he would be much better.
Roberts has given Treinen every chance to succeed in high leverage situations and he has failed miserably. His pitches last night to the first two hitters were center cut with no movement. He cannot be counted on and should be removed from the next playoff roster while Ben Casparius should be added. Doc is living in the past with Treinen.
Great plan. And probably will happen. Next game I am sure we will see Sasaki. But if series stretches to 5 games (UGH). Someone other than Vesia and Sasaki will have to be used. WHO????
Which is why Roberts went to Treinen. Unfortunately it’s didn’t work out. Cold Snell come into the 9th inning if it goes to 4 games?
Kershaw.
Agree completely with comments pertaining to Rojas- his hustle has been exceptional and that play on third base in my opinion really changed the game. That play doesn’t happen and that inning could’ve easily gotten away from us. He looked a little sore after that so hoping that there are no health issues following that play.
Unfortunately, Treinin just needs to stop.. What happened is pretty much exactly what I thought would happen. I’m just not seeing it at this time. After the first hit, he just threw up his arm, you can tell his confidence just isn’t there right now.
Where he did come up with a big swing in game number one I’m concerned about Teo. There’s been too many plays where he just doesn’t seem to want to hustle. His outfield play is mediocre and last night had a hit back to the pitcher – if he had hustled to the first would’ve made it, but he just gave up right away.
It’s a little plays like that which make the difference between winning and losing, especially when you’re up against some serious competition.
Should be an exciting game on Wednesday
I think Teo, Smith, Edman doing the best they can playing thru injuries and recovery. I think Teo just one extra effort away from reinjuring himself again.
Miggy made that great diving play for 3rd out. Then limped off in obvious pain. Ok Muncy bats for him next time anyway. And sits against righty Nola. Can he play again? And if does do you want him going all out on a grounder to pitcher where 99% of time its an easy out? Teo did hustle and tries to leg out a double. He stumbled going around 1st. Maybe he couldn’t push off his bad hamstring?
Why did Teo try to stretch that single into a double in the 8th if he’s struggling?
Madness
So Castellanos is blaming the Philly fans for the team losing 2 games.
“I think that the stadium is alive on both sides, right?” Castellanos said. “When the game is going good, it’s wind at our back, but when the game is not going good, it’s wind in our face. The environment can be with us, and the environment can be against us.”
The criticism didn’t stop there. Castellanos added that they play “more tight” at home because they’re concerned about being “reprimanded” by fans.
Great news. Let them see how ‘Real’ fans treat their team
“Dopeless hope fiend…”
Nice. A new one for me.
While I rag on Treinen sometimes, I also remember him being damn near unhittable. And just a few days ago he had one-third of those nine straight Ks by the bullpen.
So I wasn’t that surprised that Roberts summoned him. But I’d have prefered to see Sheehan stay in, at least until he allowed a baserunner.
This postseason has showcased some new young pitching stars. The Yankees’ Schlittler, the Jays’ Yesavage, the Brewers Misiorowski (or whatever). Roki, I suspect, was more famous than all of these guys. Right now, my boring crystal ball has the Dodgers facing the Brewers and Blue Jays.
Roki is the X factor for the Dodgers. A couple months back, when he was struggling in rehab assignments, the idea of him saving the bullpen seemed far-fetched.
Like Bob Welch and Dave Stewart years ago, he’ll probably move to a starting role next season.
BTW, watching the highlights, it was clear that Will Smith knew Trea would be stealing. Set up on the outside corner, feet positioned just so. He would have nailed him, too, if the ball hadn’t popped out of Mookie’s glove. Between that play and his big hit, Smith sure seems ready to get back into the starting lineup.
Looking ahead, the Rortvedt revelation could prompt some interesting moves over the winter. I sure hope, for his own morale, that Rushing sees some action soon.
it’s so funny how a simple baseball game can make you feel like you’re about to die! last night i was enjoying Emmit pitching,even though he gave up one run i felt he was still in control of the game. less than 25 minutes later i was in disbelief that Dave Roberts was sending Blake Trienan to the mound! We live and die with the decisions somebody else makes for us. i wonder what actually was going through Doc’s mind as he watched a one time stud of a pitcher struggling to protect a precious lead? Maybe Doc will never admit he was totally wrong in sending Blake out for the ninth. that’s his prerogative. , as it should be. Thankfully vesia and sasaki, not to mention the fantastic plays by max and freddie saved All of us from a devastating defeat! Would it be too much to ask fir a 7-8 run lead going into the ninth tomorrow? that’s a lot to ask, but we deserve it!!
The Arizona Fall League starts today with some of the top Dodger prospects on the Glendale Desert Dogs roster. To check out stats and daily scores, go to the top of this page and click on Minor League Affiliates and then click on Arizona Fall League.
Who needs a lefty when youve got Blake Treinen throwing up his arm like hes got a vendetta against the baseball? Seriously, Doc, maybe next time try the wheel play you love so much instead of bringing in the guy who cant even strike out the guy hitting 3rd. And lets give a shoutout to Miguel Rojas for being the unsung hero, the contact cement of the team, while poor Blake gets the heat. As for the Phillies, maybe their stadium isnt the problem—maybe their lineup needs a new manager! Keep it real, folks.act two ia
Muncy gave credit to Mookie for calling the wheel play.
It’s crazy how hard it is to win it all. Even if you are the best team, one bad series can ruin it for you. In some ways, everything needs to go right and only one thing needs to go wrong. More like March Madness than professional playoffs.
Somebody said that it was a crapshot!
Enjoying a brew at Guggman Haus Brewing in Indy. No pictures of Mark on the wall here.
Somebody must have taken it down!
You shoulda’ve told me – I’d have bought you a beer!
I’ve never been there, but I know where it is. I live on the Southside… near Greenwood.
Didn’t know I was going to stop in Indy otherwise I would have enjoyed meeting you!
Any time. Let me know.
Dodgers have 9 players who are arbitration eligible. Here is the list with their projected salary’s. Graterol 2.8 M, Gonsolin 5.4 M, Phillips 6.1 M, Vesia 4.1 M. LA holds a 3.55M option with a 50K buyout. Banda 1.7 M, Stewart 1.4 M, Rortvedt 1.3 M, Grove 800K, Call 1.5. I believe that Grove and Cat Man are non-tender candidates. I also think they exercise Vasia’s option. If they re-sign Rortvedt, I believe Rushing will be moved in a trade. Ben fits the profile of a backup much better than Dalton. Only way I see them not trading Rushing is if they are grooming him to replace Freeman in two years. I don’t think he wants to wait that long.
I think the following players are tendered:
Graterol
Vesia
Banda
Stewart
Rorvedt
Call
Grove (only 800K)
I think Gonsolin and/or Phillips may be offered 2 or 3-year deals at a low AAV.
Of course, Rushing could be traded, but it would take another Top Prospect or Two. Rushing has incredible power and is a very, very good defensive catcher. he is the #17 Prospect in all of baseball, so it would take something special to get him, maybe Colt Emerson of the Mariners.
I agree with Mark.
I think Rushing needs a chance to play regular to see what he really brings to the club.
If the Dodger’s were willing to put up with a full year of Conforto in left, you would think giving Rushing’s a chance for the first half of the season would be a no brainer.
Also, while the Dodger’s did get a couple of good prospects, just think if they gave Michael Busch a chance in Left.
Very doubtful he would be worse defensively then Conforto, especially considering his .261 BA, 34-HRs, 90-RBI’s & 866 OPS for the year.
While I realize that ship as sailed – I don’t want to see us give up on somebody to early again.
Of course, the Dodgers could field this kind of lineup:
1. Ohtani – RF
2. Betts – SS
3. Freeman – DH
4. Hernandez, T. – LF
5. Muncy – 3B
6. Smith – C
7. Rushing – 1B
8. Pages – CF
9. Kim – 2B
Ohtani DH’s when he Pitches.
They didn’t give up on Busch too early.
They DID give Busch a chance in left.
Do people just not pay attention to reality??!?!?/
To me – the fact of his 2025 stats – definitely state they gave up too early!
As to this skill set in left – I can not state either way who would be better – Conforto or Busch.
If they gave him a chance – too bad it wasn’t as long as Conforto’s chance.
My main point is to at least give Rushing a “substantial chance” before we discard him as some seem to want to do.
As to your last point – I am actually really good at being realistic.
HOWEVER, when it comes to my memory, WELL that is a whole other story:)
Cheers
They didn’t give up on him!
There was/is/will be NO PLACE for him.
He couldn’t play LF in the minors, why would they try him in LF in the majors?
Are people serious about this?
You keep missing the main point I am trying to make – which is to give Rushing a chance before we try to trade him.
I am deferring to you that Busch couldn’t play LF.
However, Rushing hasn’t been given that chance yet – that is all.
Certainly could have tried him at 3B, we are going to have an opening there REAL soon.
Freddie might not be ready to DH! still picking it at first! I love Dalton behind the plate! i agree with the earlier post, Michael Bush would have been better in left field than confirto. oh well, the show must go on! Dalton in left field. Are we ready for another .200 hitter in left field? Ben R. has been fantastic, but are they going to pass on Dalton? Could be a huge mistake! I see Will moving to 3rd. after next year, so Rushing would only have to wait 1 more season. His defense, plus his power! i say he stays.
I don’t think Busch could play LF as well as Conforto.
Freddie, Will, Shohei and Rushing could alternate at DH
I hope it doesn’t happen anytime soon…. But I can imagine a future in which Shohei moves out of the DH role.
Say that an injury ends his career as a pitcher. Ohtani is obviously a great athlete. How hard is it to imagine him playing the OF or 1B?
I suspect that if he can’t pitch, Shohei would prefer a role in the field to being DH-only….
As for 3B, I could see either Smith or Rushing moving there. Smith, however, has been pretty clear about wanting to stay at catcher. Rortvedt’s emergence could put Rushing on the trade market. But who is a good trade target?
Or should AF jut write a fat check for Alex Bregman?
Ohtani will not play the OF. He has played the OF a whopping total of SEVEN times in his entire MLB career. That number isn’t going to expand much in his later years after two elbow surgeries.
Where is all this craziness coming from.
Not that anything is impossible, but Smith has shown little interest in moving to 3B and the team has shown zero interest in moving him to 3B.
Where is all this craziness coming from.
As long as Ohtani is playing, he will be the DH. freddie, Max etc wont be the DH
9:08 PM ET
Phillies (96-66) (0-2)
Dodgers (93-69)(2-0)
SP Aaron Nola R
5-10 6.01 ERA
SP Y. Yamamoto R
12-8 2.49 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
LF E. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
2B Tommy Edman S
71° Wind 8 mph Out
actually i remember mark suggesting Will could replace max. am i crazy mark? did you not say that? i could be wrong. if not mr. bluto i apologize for being crazy!
You are not wrong!
I have suggested it.
Mark is not alone on this one. I believe Smith’s bat has surpassed his defensive value.
Mark is much better at running a water company, than knowing about MLB player versatility.
Further, lots of fans speculating wildly and inanly doesn’t make something anything near a reality.
Let me say this:
At any position other than 1B, Michael Busch is awful. He’s serviceable at 1B, but he can’t play LF or 2B!
The LAD drafted Busch as a 2bman
That proved to be wishful thinking. He played 1B in college.
It puzzles me that Busch didn’t get more of a look in LF. He was a four-sport athlete in high school with good speed. His arm is weak, which is why he didn’t work out in an extended audition at 3B. But a lot of good players with suspect arms wind up in LF.
One thing we’ve learned with time is that Busch is a much better hitter than Miguel Vargas, who was gifted the 2B job ahead of Busch and others despite his lack of experience at the position and lackluster debut. Took the brass quite a while to realize Vargas wasn’t the answer.
Still, getting two top prospects in Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris seems like a good return. But we really won’t know for a couple years….
So now that Teo has screwed up…. does this mean he’ll hit a 3-run HR later?
Whoops…. My online source said Teo had a throwing error, but now I see it was a throw from Pages that skipped past Max.
Not sure who is more at fault. Need both Pages and Max to step up!
Great job by Banda shutting down that rally.
And kudos to Roberts for the move.
Now the bats need to get going…
I am pretty sure this will be the first ALCS without the Yankees and/or Astros since 2016.
Beyond that, the fact that either the Blue Jays, Mariners, or Tigers will be in the World Series is pretty sweet.
Agree…. been a long time for the Jays, Mariners or Tigers.
Come on, Dodgers.
If the champs don’t defend their title, there will be no joy in Dodgerville.
Kersh lucky to escape seventh inning. Was hoping he wouldn’t come out in eighth
Him coming out in the eighth was a head shaker to me. I did not hang around to hear Doc ‘splain himself on that move.
Is Pages hurt?
I may have missed something, in part because I followed this game in dribs and drabs.
Well, mostly drabs in this one…
Why did Roberts have Rojas in to pinch hit for Pages?
And then why did Roberts use Dean to play center?
Very curious.
At any rate, I’m sure we were all hoping for better from Kershaw, but the Phils are proud and tough.
Again, I may be the only fan here who is out of the loop re Pages.
I see that Pages is being faulted for the risky throw to 3B that got past Max and into the dugout. Didn’t look like a terrible decision to me, but just some bad luck.
Pages is hitting .053 in the playoffs.
His AB’s have been very undisciplined. Rojas is hitting .375 in the playoffs and has zero strikeouts.
I would say that it’s pretty apparent that Doc had no confidence in him in that situation.
Rojas can’t play CF, so who else was going to? Dean is probably the best CF on the team since Edman can’t play it right now.
It made perfect sense to me… it just didn’t work.
Just because something doesn’t work, doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense.
Cant win every postseason game.
Lets win today!!!
Here’s the long and short of it:
1. Don’t pitch Clayton or Treinen against the Phillies.
2. Freddie needs to step up.
3. Ohtani needs to extract his head from his rear. He had 10 Ks in 23 ABs!
4. Blake Treinen should not pitch against the Phillies, even though he pitched a scoreless inning last night. In 2021 his fastball velocity was in the 96th percentile. Now it’s in the 72nd percentile.
5. Someone needs to be able to pitch well in the 8th inning.