Dodgers: Blake Treinen’s new IG bio could throw wrench in playoff run

We hate to “get political on here,” so we won’t. Instead, we’ll simply note one clear disadvantage the Dodgers might face in October while attempting to keep their entire bullpen active during the most important month of the season.

Again, not political. Simply noting a factual leg up other teams could have, according to MLB’s policies, that the Dodgers seem unlikely to take advantage of.

Down the stretch, a non-vaccinated “close contact” of a player who tests positive for COVID-19 will need to miss an extended period of time while MLB assesses the possibility of community spread. We just watched this take place repeatedly in the Red Sox clubhouse, leading to a messy string of departures down the stretch.

A vaccinated individual, in the same situation, would not be subject to such a stringent testing commitment prior to being cleared.

Therefore, it’s not terribly reassuring to check Blake Treinen’s new Instagram bio ahead of the most important few weeks of the year, and see him throwing cold water on the COVID vaccine and directing nonbelievers to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell’s personal website.

Again, I’m not making it political, though he might.

Dodgers righty Blake Treinen raged against the COVID-19 vaccine.

Whether Treinen has chosen to make a “personal decision” to get the vaccine or avoid it does become everyone’s business while a 26-man roster and coaching staff are chasing a postseason dream, entwined together. The decision to decline vaccination would only affect one body, Treinen’s, if there weren’t specific rules in place that put unvaccinated players at a disadvantage, and could put the team a man down for an entire playoff series if the exposure is poorly timed.

Again, these are rules that are on the books. By the letter of the law, it’s troublesome to see Treinen flaunting this opinion because we know the consequences the league has in place — not to mention his manager, Dave Roberts, is a cancer survivor, and his team already has one instance of serious postseason COVID drama on the books from last season (Justin Turner’s defiant strut).

Based on what we know now about where Treinen stands — and how he’s using his public platform to ask others to stand — we can assume Los Angeles will begin the postseason dodging off-the-field bullets.

That’s not the position of strength anyone wants to be in during the biggest month of the year.

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