Newest Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen: “I’m not a broken pitcher”

The Dodgers got a bounceback candidate. But Blake Treinen says there is one thing they definitely didn’t get.

“I’m not a broken pitcher,” the right-handed reliever said Sunday after his one-year, $10 million contract to join the Dodgers became official. “And I feel that’s kind of been the consensus across baseball right now. It’s kind of entertaining to me to listen to. I understand, from the outside looking in, there’s some validation behind it. A guy has a bad year, there’s a lot of criticism involved and that’s just how the game goes.

“I don’t really want to dwell too much on the past. It is what it is. That’s unfortunate that I did that for the A’s organization that was leaning so highly on me, maybe some expectations that I didn’t achieve. But I’m just looking forward to 2020 and seeing what that holds.”

Treinen, 31, was one of the best relievers in baseball for the Oakland A’s in 2018 with a 0.78 ERA, a 9-2 record and 38 saves in 43 opportunities. He became the first pitcher in baseball history with 30 saves, an ERA under 1.00 and 100 strikeouts (in 80 1/3 innings) in the same season. The 0.78 ERA is the lowest for a pitcher with at least 80 innings in a season since earned runs became an official stat in 1912.

“The sinker is what makes me successful,” Treinen said. “When I was right, in my opinion, my sinker was really good and at times dominant. Being able to locate all my pitches in the zone and for chase when I needed to, that’s pretty much success for anybody — if you can locate where you want to and be able to put hitters away early in counts, whether it’s weak contact or strikeout.

“There’s no magic formula. It’s pretty basic. It’s just a matter of execution.”

That execution deserted him in 2019. Treinen’s ERA swelled to 4.91 (the highest in his six big-league seasons) and the A’s demoted him from the closer role in mid-season. A shoulder strain landed him on the IL in June and a stress reaction in his back ended his season early in mid-September. A recent visit with Dr. Robert Watkins affirmed the back problem has been addressed, Treinen said.

“Obviously you put a lot of thought into why things happen the way they do,” Treinen said. “In my heart, I’m going to sit here until I’m blue in the face and tell you that’s not who I am as a pitcher and I believe the rest of the league believes that as well.”

That stance is supported by the multiple teams that tried to trade for Treinen before the A’s non-tendered him in early December and then tried to sign him when he became a free agent. After making $6.4 million in 2019, Treinen was projected to make about $8 million in arbitration this winter. Instead, he became the rare non-tendered free agent to make even more by being cut loose.

“Surprised? Probably not. But we’re always our worst critic, right?” Treinen said of the A’s decision to non-tender him.

“I’m just blessed that teams see my situation the way that I do — that I’ve got a lot left to give and to bless an organization with, that I’m still an elite pitcher and last year is an outlier.”

After three seasons with the Washington Nationals, Treinen had 67 saves in parts of three seasons as the A’s closer but he said there was “not a ton” of discussion with the Dodgers about his role in their 2020 bullpen. Despite his inconsistent stretches over the past two seasons, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and manager Dave Roberts have both expressed support and confidence in Kenley Jansen as the team’s closer going forward.

“I’m just excited to throw in meaningful innings,” Treinen said. “The decision (to sign) there wasn’t made because of role or anything. It was made because of the investment and the excitement they showed towards me and my family and the ability I can bring to help the club. I’m not worried about the role. I’m worried about going out there and showing them who I can be as a pitcher and helping them win ballgames.”