The Dodgers will probably be activating right-hander Evan Phillips from the 15-day injured record previous to at present’s recreation with the Rangers. Within the corresponding transfer, righty Blake Treinen will probably be positioned on the 15-day IL on account of forearm tightness, as initially reported by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
As supervisor Dave Roberts instructed Ardaya and different media members, Treinen has been feeling forearm discomfort for the previous couple of days, and the discomfort elevated yesterday throughout a bullpen session. The choice was then made to place Treinen on the injured record, and the reliever will bear an MRI to find out the extent of the issue.
Any forearm harm naturally appears just a little ominous, and it will be one other blow for a veteran reliever who has already spent a whole lot of time on the IL lately. Los Angeles additionally signed Treinen to a two-year, $22MM contract final winter, and as logical as that funding appeared primarily based on Treinen’s on-field outcomes, at present’s information underlines the chance of committing larger cash to a veteran reliever (Treinen turns 37 in June) with a checkered harm historical past.
Shoulder issues stored Treinen out for many of the 2022 season and the whole thing of the 2023 season, as he ultimately required labrum and rotator cuff surgical procedures to totally appropriate the issue. His deliberate return for the beginning of the 2024 marketing campaign was delayed by a bruised lung in Spring Coaching, and Treinen additionally had a short IL stint throughout final season on account of a hip concern.
By means of all of it, in fact, Treinen has been good to nice when he has been in a position to pitch. The righty’s 5 seasons in L.A. have resulted in a 2.34 ERA, 28.4% strikeout fee, and seven.6% stroll fee throughout 157 2/3 aid innings. Treinen additionally has a 3.24 ERA in 33 1/3 postseason frames throughout his time with the Dodgers, incomes championship rings in each 2020 and 2024.
Simply as Treinen goes down, nonetheless, the Dodgers’ outstanding depth chart permits the membership to instantly change him with one other high-leverage reliever simply again from his personal IL stint. Phillips was left off the World Sequence roster on account of a number of accidents, most prominently a tear in a rotator cuff tendon that then delayed his standard offseason preparations. Because of this, L.A. positioned Phillips on the 15-day IL to start the season as a way to give the reliever extra time to correctly ramp up, and he’ll now be able to make his 2025 debut as early as at present.
Phillips’ actual function will probably be fascinating to watch, as he was the Dodgers’ major nearer within the earlier two seasons but Tanner Scott has now assumed that function in 2025. The membership’s four-year, $72MM take care of Scott underlines the staff’s dedication to giving Scott loads of appears to be like in late-game conditions, although in February, Roberts mentioned Scott would solely obtain the “brunt” of save probabilities, not all of them. As circumstances, matchups, accidents, and efficiency will dictate over the course of the season and into the playoffs, the Dodgers determine to present a number of pitchers the possibility to earn saves. The left-handed Scott, as an illustration, may very well be introduced right into a recreation previous to the ninth inning ought to a rival staff have an imposing set of left-handed hitters coming to the plate.
It makes for a fairly good “downside” to have when a staff can choose and select between its many elite relievers, and Phillips has moved into that class during the last three seasons. Claimed off waivers from the Rays in an under-the-radar transfer in August 2021, Phillips posted a 2.21 ERA, 29.6% strikeout fee, and 6.5% stroll fee over 179 innings from 2022-24. He has 45 profession saves out of 54 probabilities, all with the Dodgers aside from one save recorded with Tampa Bay in 2021.
