With the star-studded 2024 World Series about to begin between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers – two of the top three teams in terms of runs scored per game – both clubs are well aware that a strong bullpen will be crucial to success.

And if the closeout Game 6 of the NLCS was any indication of things to come, the Dodgers are confident in who they will have on the mound in those pressure moments.

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Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Kopech is normally a reliever, but got the rare start in Game 6, pitching the first inning with his noticeably cross-shaped glove. Then 36-year-old Blake Treinen finished the game, pitching the final two innings and relying on his experience to overcome mounting pressure, record the final out and send the Dodgers to the World Series.

WORLD SERIES BOUND. pic.twitter.com/dSCoZ7IRJR

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 21, 2024

Kopech joined the Dodgers relatively recently. He came in a midseason trade in July with the Chicago White Sox, the only MLB team he had ever known, as part of a trade that also included Tommy Edman. Kopech made 24 relief appearances in a Dodger uniform in the regular season and posted an impressive ERA of 1.13.

Meanwhile, Treinen has been with the organization since signing with LA in December 2019. He has recorded some of his best seasons in Dodger Blue despite missing all of 2023 with an injury.

In addition to sharing a clubhouse and soon a World Series mound, Kopech and Treinen also share a faith in God. They both joined legendary Dodgers pitcher and fellow believer Clayton Kershaw at the Dodgers’ “Faith and Family” celebration in September.

“This is a very unsatisfactory game,” Kopech said at the event, describing the ups and downs of baseball. “There’s no consistency, and that made me realize I needed something deeper.”

In a vulnerable moment, Kopech revealed that he had strayed from his faith because he had replaced God with baseball on the throne of his heart.

‘I lived a life where I wanted to be wanted. To live at this level of idolatry,” Kopech told AllCHGO.com in 2022 about that time. ‘It’s stressful to impose that on yourself, because you’re not supposed to live that way. And I really believe that now.”

Ultimately, it was God who brought him back to Himself through the discipleship of his wife and others. As Kopech experiences the joy of a restored relationship with God, who loves him unconditionally, he resonates powerfully with the younger son in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.

He even sees God’s providence in his trade from Chicago to LA

“God has His hand in everything,” Kopech said after being traded, according to MLB.com. “And this step for me right now feels like that’s where I need to be.”

During the celebration of “Faith and Family,” Treinen also spoke about one of his favorite Bible passages, Romans 10:9. It says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Treinen said of the verse: “God knows your heart. You can’t just fake it. Faith is not about seeking the benefits of heaven; it is about truly believing in your heart.”

With the platform God has given him, Treinen seeks to steward it for the glory of God, so that others can hear the good news of the Gospel and respond in faith as he did.

“Our job is to humble our hearts and admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior,” he said, “and that Jesus paid for it on the cross.”

He did so after the Dodgers’ victory over the San Diego Padres in this year’s NLDS.

‘I have to give God the glory’ Treinen told FOX Sports on the field after the match. “It’s one of the most memorable days of my life. … For God to give me the opportunity to call a game with the Dodgers against this great team is a true blessing.”

“Man, I can’t talk. I’ve been screaming the last three games, I’ve lost my voice. It’s awesome, I’m excited to be with my boys”

Blake Treinen talks to @Ken_Rosenthal after the Dodgers eliminated the Padres pic.twitter.com/C2rYWYCyLJ

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 12, 2024

The Dodgers face some of the most important games in the players’ lives in the coming days. The eyes of the baseball world will be on them when a World Series title is on the line. But for Kopech, Treinen and other believers on both teams, they are certain that an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good God is in control of all things.

“I think there’s a sense of peace knowing that as big as MLB baseball may feel, it’s not even close to the biggest stage,” Kopech told AllCHGO.com. “…It takes a lot of weight off of myself to realize that there is something else that is in control and that someone else is in control. There is a lot of peace in that.”

Game 1 between the Dodgers (98-64) and Yankees (94-68) is Friday in Los Angeles. First pitch is set for 8:08 PM ET.

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how to commit your life to Him.

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