Blake Treinen attends daughter’s birth, then closes Dodgers’ NLDS win

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers closer Blake Treinen is a doting husband and father. He is an All-Star and a World Series champion. This week, both worlds intertwined during a whirlwind 72 hours.

Shortly after the Dodgers staved off elimination in Game 4 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday at Petco Park, Treinen flew home to Washington to be present for the birth of his and his wife Kati’s fourth child.

“Going home for this child, I’m grateful for the Dodgers for helping me out and making things kind of seamless for me, because my wife should never have to choose between her husband playing baseball as her first, like, foresight,” Treinen said. “It should be, ‘We’re welcoming a beautiful girl into this world. It’s a miracle.’ So being able to go home and be a part of that and still be able to get back and play in a game — the way it all worked out with the timing — there’s so many little details.

“It was a total Godsend, and His hand was completely on it. And then having to close out last night, there’s probably only a handful of days that are better than that. Every birth of my child is up there, my wedding day, my debut, World Series, baseball accolades and family, personal. But that one’s up there because they combined both.”

Earlier this year when the Treinens found out they were pregnant, they knew this kind of situation could be a possibility. They were hopeful that the baby would arrive during Los Angeles’ bye week for claiming the NL’s top seed.

“We didn’t think about it, honestly, until they gave us the due date,” Treinen said. “You go in there like, ‘Hey, you’re pregnant, here’s your due date.’ We’re like, ‘Not our best timing.’ My wife’s always been early, so we were kind of hoping for the gap between the Rockies [to end the regular season] and then us playing the Padres.

“That didn’t work. And then like, ‘Hey, we can schedule an induction.’ The induction would have happened on the off-day, and so that worked out perfect. That’s just kind of how the timing worked out. It was cool.”

Treinen’s story is one teammate Daniel Hudson knows all too well. During the 2019 postseason as a member of the Nationals, Hudson flew home to Phoenix following NLDS Game 5 and missed Game 1 of the NLCS to be with his wife for the birth of their third daughter.

“I definitely know what he went through,” Hudson said. “It’s been a whirlwind. Hopefully he’s getting some sleep the last couple of nights. I didn’t even know he was leaving. We bussed back from San Diego and I was like, ‘Oh, hey, where’s Blake?’ He kind of, like, didn’t make it a big thing. He just kind of dipped out of the locker room, and I didn’t even see him until he came back here after the baby was born.”

“I got pretty decent sleep the night before,” Treinen said. “Somebody had to be home with the kids. So it’s one of those things where you feel like a bad husband when you leave the hospital, but you know that they’ve got good people watching over her and our daughter, so I got to sleep at the house with the kids, get ready, go back, see her, then get on a plane and fly back.”

When Treinen rejoined his teammates, he was able to complete his normal pregame routine. Whether it was the adrenaline of adding to the family, facing a division rival or feeding off the home crowd, Treinen’s velocity was up during his nine-pitch outing.

And as Treinen retired the Padres in order — setting down pinch-hitter Donovan Solano, Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. to send the Dodgers to the NLCS for the first time since 2021 — his family proudly watched back at home.

“They love it,” Treinen said. “My kids love it. They’re always like, ‘Strike them out, Dad!’ Sorry, I didn’t strike anybody out yesterday.”