By Game 7 of last year’s World Series, the Dodgers’ bullpen issues were apparent even amidst their dramatic triumph. Not only did the Dodgers use all four starters in their postseason rotation—Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—but they also tapped Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan, who combined to start 14 games in the regular season, to navigate the 5-4, 11-inning win that secured the team’s second consecutive championship.
The Dodgers shored up the bullpen over the winter, signing three-time All-Star Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract. With the closer role firmly defined for the first time since Kenley Jansen was on the team in 2021, how the rest of the bullpen falls into place remains a work in progress during spring training.
### Veteran Presence Bolsters the Bullpen
Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen did not mince words when asked about how the Dodgers are perceived in MLB in light of all their spending in recent offseasons.
“Obviously, adding Díaz to the back end is huge for us and getting Alex Vesia [back] is going to be good, and also Blake [Treinen],” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Blake wasn’t right last year, clearly. He’s throwing the baseball really well. Having guys that you trust is everything for the pen. You’ve got to count on those veteran guys for sure.”
Now included in that veteran group is left-hander Tanner Scott, who joined the Dodgers before last season on a four-year, $72-million deal. Scott struggled to find his footing, primarily as a closer, before a left elbow injury placed him on the injured list in mid-July, causing him to miss a month of action. He returned in the final week of August but never looked quite right.
Scott posted a 4.74 ERA across 61 appearances and 57.0 innings pitched in his first year with the Dodgers. On Saturday, against the Chicago Cubs in a split-squad game at Camelback Ranch, Scott made his Cactus League debut, pitching a scoreless inning, recording a strikeout, and giving up one hit on 17 pitches.
With the ninth inning role secured, Roberts believes this flexibility will allow Scott to bounce back this season.
“I think being able to use Tanner in any inning of leverage is going to be good for him,” Roberts said. “And it’s going to be good for us.”
### Early Spring Training Performances
Díaz, for his part, has settled in nicely, making his second appearance of the spring on Saturday. He worked around two walks to pitch a scoreless inning, striking out one.
Vesia, who missed the World Series due to the death of his newborn daughter, has pitched two scoreless innings, while Treinen pitched a perfect inning on Thursday against the Chicago White Sox in his first Cactus League outing.
The 37-year-old Treinen, who’s been on all three of the Dodgers’ recent World Series teams and was a stalwart in the 2024 postseason, struggled last season, going 1-5 with a 9.64 ERA in September.
“You never know what the body throttles back,” Treinen said earlier in camp. “I had a UCL injury, so I don’t know if that’s part of the problem, but something was different. I mean, velocity was there, movements were there, execution wasn’t, and when pitches were in the zone, it was a harder-hit rate. So, that tells me something was different—how to handle hitters. So, just trying to go back and clean things up to where the ball does more of what it has done most of my career.”
### Injury Updates and Team Outlook
The Dodgers are off to a hot start in spring training, but will this team prove to be a juggernaut during the regular season as it seeks a third straight title?
On the flip side, right-hander Brusdar Graterol, who has not pitched since the 2024 World Series, remains in a holding pattern during spring training as he recovers from right labrum surgery. Right-hander Evan Phillips is also expected to miss several months after Tommy John surgery ended his season last June.
However, for the most part, the healthy relievers have shown glimpses of what the Dodgers’ bullpen could look like this season.
“I don’t think that there’s one way to manage a pen,” Roberts said. “But when you have a guy like Edwin Díaz as your closer, I do think that frees up other guys. I think that’s freeing for me and allows for getting the matchups we need in the prior innings.”
### Blake Snell’s Recovery and Expectations
After Roberts ruled out Blake Snell for opening day on Friday, he provided some additional context on Saturday. Roberts expects the 33-year-old left-hander to continue progressing but does not anticipate Snell pitching in the Cactus League this spring.
“I think he’s working through it in the sense of, last year he was on a new team,” Roberts said of Snell, who was limited to 11 starts and 61.1 innings last season. “He pushed through things to start the season healthy, which is understandable. And you learn from it, he was never right all year. I think this year, he’s going to make sure that he is ready to go.”
Roberts added, “So, I do think that he feels comfort in knowing that we need him, we count on him, we believe in him. And then there’s an individual part, where I do think that he wants to get another Cy Young. And what that means is, you’ve got to be healthy, you have to make starts, and so that’s something that personally he’s striving for. But at the end of the day, he’s got to be healthy and we’re going to do whatever we can to make that happen.”
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2026-02-28/dodgers-edwin-diaz-bullpen-tanner-scott-blake-treinen
