Dodgers shouldn’t give Blake Treinen the Evan Phillips treatment after season-ending injury

Whenever the Los Angeles Dodgers playoff journey ends, they'll need to make several decisions on how to fortifiy the bullpen. Much like playoff time last season, the unit has become a house of cards that feels as if it's on the verge of collapse, even if there's been good news recently.

One player who won't be part of the postseason bullpen is veteran right-hander Blake Treinen. He suffered a shoulder injury while warming up in the bullpen during September 26's matchup against the San Francisco Giants. The full extent isn't yet known, but it is significant enough for the Dodgers to announce that the 38-year-old is done for the year.

Treinen is a free-agent-to-be, and that sets the scene for Los Angeles to make a decision. Does the club let the long-time high-leverage hurler walk? Or does the team follow the route it took with Evan Phillips, whom they re-signed while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, with hopes that he could return as an impact bullpen arm down the stretch?

It's time for the Dodgers to thank Blake Treinen for his service and let him ride off into the sunset

Listening to some of his peers talk about the injury, it's clear that Treinen is a well-liked and influential player within the Dodgers' bullpen.

“It’s gut-wrenching for us,” Alex Vesia said, via Jack Harris of the California Post. “Blake’s one of our leaders out there in the bullpen.”

We're not going to say that veteran leadership doesn't matter, but there are a few key differences between Treinen's situation and the circumstances surrounding Phillips at the time that LA decided to bring him back.

The first has to do with age. Phillips is six years younger, and that matters. If Treinen were to come back and try to pitch in 2027, it would be for his age-39 season, making it extremely questionable as to whether or not he'd have anything left in the tank.

Timing matters too. As we saw with Phillips this year, it can take a bit for an injured reliever to get back into the groove. The 32-year-old was horrendous when he came back in July, throwing 7⅓ innings and surrendering five earned runs, including four home runs, before settling in to post a 2.41 over his final 18⅔ innings from August 1 onward. Even then, he didn't fully hit his stride until September.

The injuries these two relievers have suffered are different, but the thought remains the same. Treinen was also up and down this year, posting a decent 3.64 ERA, which means he might not have that extra gear that Phillips does.

The most important difference, however, is that Phillips had been mostly healthy before his UCL injury, whereas Treinen has dealt with a variety of maladies in recent years. He was limited to just 29⅔ innings this season and missed nearly two months with elbow inflammation. He dealt with forearm soreness in 2025 that limited him to just 26⅔ innings, dealt with a hip issue in 2024, and missed the entire 2023 campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery to repair his labrum and rotator cuff.

In fact, Treinen hasn't had a fully healthy year since 2021, so while he's put together dominant campaigns in the past, it's hard to expect him to be that same pitcher and avoid other injuries moving forward.

This should also be a lesson for the Dodgers, who have spent big on veteran relievers only to get mediocre results and a bunch of injuries. Relievers are volatile, and we saw that from Tanner Scott last year. We saw how quickly they can run out of gas with the Kirby Yates experiment. We're in the throes of it right now with Edwin Diaz.

The lesson from Phillips should be clear. Los Angeles originally acquired him off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021. The Dodgers got him as a young player and made him into what he is today through their coaching and development plan. They need more of that and less star chasing in the pen, because the latter is more often than not a disappointment.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow