More on Treinen's impressive first MLB start

There are scouts and talent evaluators both inside and outside the Nationals organization who feel that Blake Treinen would make for a terrific late-inning reliever at the big league level. He has the velocity for it, throwing a fastball that has been clocked at 100 mph in the past, possesses a hard sinker that gets plenty of ground balls, and also mixes in a slider that is an effective pitch for him. But the 25-year-old Treinen showed yesterday that if the Nationals would like to continue developing him as a starter, he might just have the stuff to handle that role, as well. Treinen surprisingly doesn't miss many bats despite how hard he throws and how much movement he gets on his two-seam sinking fastball (he struck out just 6.5 batters per nine innings last season), but he finds other ways to get the job done. The right-hander allowed seven hits in five-plus innings yesterday, but he got a double-play ball in each of his first two innings, and held a potent Dodgers lineup at bay until things fell apart in the sixth due to some sloppy infield defense (part of which was Treinen's fault). Treinen dropped Clayton Kershaw's comebacker opening the sixth and Adam LaRoche then couldn't handle Dee Gordon's slow roller, leading to a three-run inning and ending Treinen's night. But manager Matt Williams made sure to tell Treinen that he shouldn't let his fielding miscue or the way his outing ended spoil what was a stellar outing. "He was disappointed that he gave up some runs," Williams said. "I said, 'That's a pretty good lineup over there. You're facing a pretty good pitcher. And you held your own. You should be proud of that.' It didn't go his way, for sure, but I just think he pitched really well. He was poised, he threw strikes to both sides of the plate, used his breaking ball and competed. That's all we could ask. ... "I think he pitched pretty well. I bet if you asked those guys over there (in the visiting clubhouse), they thought he pitched pretty good, too." Catcher Jose Lobaton was impressed with Treinen, as well, and relayed an interaction that he had with home plate umpire Paul Nauert, who was trying to tell Lobaton to hold Treinen's pitches at the bottom of the strike zone a bit longer if he wanted them to be called strikes. "I'm like, 'It's not easy,' " Lobaton said. "'It's 97-98 with sink. I'm trying, but it's not easy.' " The Nats got Treinen as the player to be named in the Michael Morse trade in early 2013. He wasn't the main piece the Nats received in that deal - they also got right-handed pitching prospect A.J. Cole and left-handed reliever Ian Krol, who was dealt to the Tigers this winter in the Doug Fister deal. But Treinen put together a solid 2013 season and really impressed this spring. Treinen has moved up the organizational depth chart quickly, and the fact that he was the guy called upon to make yesterday's spot-start says a lot about how far he's come, after posting a 4.37 ERA at high Single-A two years ago. He might eventually settle into a late-inning relief type of role, but yesterday, Treinen showed everyone that he could potentially become one heck of a starter, as well. Pitching on a big stage against the Dodgers, with Clayton Kershaw going for the opposing team, Treinen didn't flinch.