Armed with a blazing bowling ball of a fastball and a slider that can make any big leaguer look foolish, Dodgers right-hander Blake Treinen looks like a guy that never had to fight for much in baseball while on the mound.
However, his story is much, much different than that.
The 33-year-old had a long journey to dominance on the mound. As a teen, he struggled with weight he admittedly packed on while eating junk food and playing video games with friends. He was a late bloomer and nearly developed diabetes. In his mid-teen years, he was far from the best player on his high school baseball team and struggled to throw a pitch above 80 miles per hour.