Coming off a sweep of the Mariners, the Dodgers’ first set of consecutive wins since April 16-17, reliever Blake Treinen joined David Rosenthal, Kevin Klein and Jake Reiner of The Incline: Dodgers podcast for an exclusive interview Thursday.
“Being with the Dodgers is obviously a blast,” Treinen said, “it’s probably the thrill of my career.”
During the episode, Treinen discussed his love for the Dodgers organization, his philosophy on losing streaks, pitching in high-leverage situations, winning a championship and a meme worth a thousand words.
It isn’t often that you get to hear from Treinen, so we wanted to give him the opportunity to let fans in and get to know him off the field.
“I love Jesus, first and foremost. I’m a family man, (I) love spending time learning how to be a better dad and a husband,” Treinen said. “Baseball is kind of the thing I get to do, it’s not who I am.”
🚨NEW EPISODE🚨
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with #Dodgers RP Blake Treinen!
⚾️What motivates him
⚾️Looking back at the 2020 WS run
⚾️ Pitching mindset / current team vibes
⚾️ Official Meme Review
🍎: https://t.co/aVfA85vaMM
🟢: https://t.co/yoYavAu8Ni
🎥: https://t.co/FkwF6UTycT pic.twitter.com/7h6eOESOcG— The Incline: Dodgers Podcast (@TheInclinePod) May 14, 2021
Treinen was the All-Star closer for the Athletics in 2018, but after a down, injury-plagued 2019 season, the Dodgers took a chance on him, by signing him to a one-year deal for the 2020 campaign. Treinen recalled a meeting he had with manager Dave Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, pitching coach Mark Prior, and bullpen coach Josh Bard.
“They all kind of sat me down and said, ‘hey, you know, we envision you being a guy that’s gonna throw against the heart of the lineup in pivotal times of the game. That could be the fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth (inning) – doesn’t matter.’ I was thinking to myself, ‘man, that’s kind of a tough gig to be thrown right into off an injury-plagued season and a one-year deal back into free agency,'” Treinen said. “There’s two ways you can look at it: it can either be a blessing or a curse and I’m thinking, ‘why not make it a blessing,’ why not go out and have a good year with that type of work load and then potentially help set my family up for a while.”
The closer turned high-leverage-jack-of-all-trades reliever rewarded the Dodgers by becoming one of their most reliable bullpen arms during the regular season and the postseason.
“I’ve always said that winning in the playoffs is a mixture of talent, luck, and health and we certainly got all of that through the playoffs and that’s why we won,” Treinen said.
The Dodgers made Treinen one of their top targets this past offseason and the World Series champ re-signed with the club on a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $17.5 million. He told The Incline that his decision to come back had a lot to do with how comfortable he felt being a part of the Dodgers organization.
“Signing back with the Dodgers was all about the people. You can chase dollars anywhere you want, but at the end of the day, if one team is willing to offer you something, there’s always going to be another team that’s willing to offer the same or close to it, so you just gotta find the best fit based on people, in my opinion, and there was no better place than L.A. at that point,” Treinen said.
We also asked Treinen about the current rough patch the Dodgers have been through. Before sweeping the Mariners, the Dodgers had lost 15 of their last 20 games and that was after starting the season 13-2. He said despite the recent results there is no sense of panic in the clubhouse and he believes this team is capable of playing better than they have been.
“It’s no different each year, you have a target on your back,” Treinen said, referring to being the reigning champs. “If you want to go back-to-back, you have to embrace the adversity. The fact that it sucks right now is only a benefit. We’re getting everybody’s best bullet right now and when we face them in the playoffs or when we face them down the stretch, they’re not going to be able to trick us with anything different.”
The interview ended on a light note with Rosenthal asking Treinen about a meme the co-host created, which has gained considerable traction from last season to this season. Watch below:
Blake Treinen: confirmed man of the people, supporter of the meme 🌽.
I don’t see anything in life topping Blake giving me his meme review. A king. #Dodgers @TheInclinePod pic.twitter.com/VkAfFvp9e5
— David Rosenthal (@_therealdrose) May 14, 2021
Jake Reiner is a writer & editor for Dodgers Tailgate. He’s also the host of the Meeting on the Mound with Jake Reiner podcast and co-host of The Incline: Dodgers podcast. You can follow him on Twitter here @Reiner_Jake.
Photo Credit: Los Angeles Dodgers
