After his Los Angeles Dodgers came back from a 5-0 deficit Wednesday (Oct. 30) to clinch their eighth World Series championship, closing pitcher Blake Treinen glorified God during an on-field interview. When FOX Sports reporter Robert Flores asked Treinen how he felt after the 7-6 game-five win, the pitcher said, “Joy…overwhelming joy. God is absolutely good.”
Treinen continued, “I gotta give a shout out to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this moment, man. It’s a lot of hard work, what I’ve gone through…This moment is such a blessing.” Asked who came to mind first after the final out, Treinen replied, “God, honestly. Everything I’ve been through, it’s just so good to be here and have this platform.”
The 36-year-old has been candid about the ups and downs of baseball, from cuts and trades to injuries. He’s also been vocal about his faith, standing up for Christian values when the Dodgers invited “queer and trans nuns” to the team’s LGBTQ+ Pride Night last year.
Dodgers Pitcher Blake Treinen Trusts God
Treinen, the Dodgers’ best closer, began struggling during the eighth inning Wednesday night. But instead of pulling Treinen to save his arm for a potential game six, manager Dave Roberts decided to keep him in. Afterward, Roberts described walking to the mound, looking in the pitcher’s eyes, and asking how much he had left. “He said, ‘I want it.’ And I trusted him,” Roberts said of Treinen.
Trust has played a key role throughout Treinen’s career. He dealt with medical challenges as a teen, struggled to land on a college team, and then had his contract voided with the Florida Marlins in 2010. While dealing with that disappointment, Treinen called a chaplain he’d known briefly from a summer team and received a life-changing Bible verse, Proverbs 3:5-6.
Hours later, as Treinen told his parents about that passage at 2 a.m. in rural Kansas, a car drove by with the personalized license plate PROV356. “I decided to lean on God and not my own understanding,” Treinen wrote at FaithDrivenAthlete.org.
Although the pitcher was raised in a Christian home, his faith had never been tested. “I developed my own relationship with Jesus,” he wrote, “and I knew that he alone was going to be my path toward salvation.” Treinen began writing Proverbs 3:5-6 by his name, and he said he hopes kids who have his autograph put their identity in Christ too.
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From baseball, the pitcher has learned to “stop putting limitations on God’s power” and to “dream big.” From the Bible, Treinen has discovered that “God picks some of the unlikeliest characters to fulfill his purposes and write incredible stories.”
Other Dodgers Players Also Prioritize Their Faith
Treinen, who said one of his goals is to be “an ambassador for Christ,” has support from fellow Christians on the team. Dodgers pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Michael Kopech are outspoken Christians, as is first baseman Freddie Freeman.
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