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In a candid moment on Saturday morning, Blake Treinen laid out the Dodgers’ path to redemption with refreshing simplicity. The team’s bullpen, which faced significant struggles last season, is now focused on moving forward rather than dwelling on past failures. “Nobody in this organization, in the seven years I’ve been here, has ever focused on negatives,” Treinen stated. “Some teams might be like, ‘I can’t act like I did last year.’ But we’re not gonna live in the past. Nobody lives in the past.”
For many of the Dodgers’ returning relievers, revisiting last season is anything but enjoyable. Collectively, the bullpen recorded the 10th-highest ERA in the majors and blew a significant number of saves. Treinen, alongside Tanner Scott, was a key part of this struggle, with Treinen finishing with a career-worst 5.40 ERA due to an elbow injury that sidelined him for 3.5 months. Scott, too, faced his own challenges, posting a 4.74 ERA and losing his closer role after converting 23 of 33 save opportunities.
These setbacks nearly derailed the Dodgers’ hopes of defending their title, forcing the team to lean heavily on its starting rotation during the playoffs and even convert Roki Sasaki into an emergency postseason closer. However, optimism reigns as the club looks to a revamped, yet familiar, relief corps for a turnaround. “They’re going to be better this year,” manager Dave Roberts confidently declared.
The key to this resurgence hinges significantly on Treinen and Scott’s performance. While the addition of $69 million closer Edwin Díaz promises backend stability, the return to form for these two veterans is equally crucial. Ideally, they could emerge as primary set-up men, with Díaz’s presence allowing Roberts to utilize them in more favorable matchups.
To achieve this, both pitchers must address the issues that plagued them last season and let go of the accompanying frustrations. For Scott, this means avoiding mistakes in the strike zone, which led to 11 home runs allowed in 2025, tying him for ninth among all MLB relievers. He has engaged in a “deep dive” with pitching coaches Connor McGuiness and Mark Prior this spring to identify flaws in his delivery that contributed to his poor command and elbow injury.
Scott feels more prepared this spring compared to last, which he described as a “sprint” due to the Dodgers’ early start in Japan. In his Cactus League debut, he showcased promising signs by throwing a scoreless inning, effectively locating his pitches. “(I’m) just making sure my stuff is playing exactly how I want it to be,” Scott said. “Everything starts with delivery.”
For Treinen, a primary focus will be refining his signature sweeper, which struggled to generate swings and misses last season. Some within the organization attribute this issue to slight changes in his arm slot. On Thursday, he enjoyed a positive start to his spring campaign, throwing a scoreless inning that included two strikeouts, the first on a swing-and-miss with his sweeper. “Last game was great, results-wise,” Treinen remarked. “There’s still a lot to improve on. But that’s good, when I feel like I was OK but the results were good.”
Other middle relievers will also play a pivotal role this season. Alex Vesia remains a top left-handed option, while Jack Dreyer aims to build on his rookie success. The team is hopeful for contributions from Brock Stewart, Evan Phillips, and Brusdar Graterol, who is still working through shoulder issues that kept him out all of last season. Additionally, Ben Casparius, Will Klein, and Edgardo Henriquez are all vying for depth roles, though Henriquez has struggled with command in his early spring outings.
Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.
