Dodgers’ Glasnow ‘unlikely’ to return this year
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — Tyler Glasnow has a sprained right elbow and is “highly unlikely” to pitch again this season, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Saturday, a devastating blow for a high-priced team with World Series expectations but serious concerns about its postseason rotation.
Glasnow, 31, had been out since Aug. 11 with what the team described as elbow tendinitis. He seemed to be close to a return before suffering another setback that essentially ended his season. The right-hander was warming up for a two- to three-inning simulated game from Truist Park early Friday afternoon, expected to be his last step before rejoining the Dodgers’ rotation, but had to shut it down because of elbow discomfort as he approached his 25th throw from the bullpen.
The Dodgers at this point can only be confident in newcomer Jack Flaherty starting their first postseason game. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who missed nearly three months with a shoulder injury but had an encouraging return last week, seems like a solid bet to follow him. Beyond that, though, the Dodgers’ rotation outlook is exceedingly uncertain.
“It’s a big blow,” Roberts said of Glasnow’s injury. “Looking at what he meant for our ballclub, what he’s done for us, what we expected him to do — certainly there’s going to be a cost. But we gotta move on and we will. We have a lot of capable people. I feel bad for Tyler because he did everything to stay healthy and get back, and it just wasn’t going to happen.”
The Dodgers acquired Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays over the offseason, giving up two promising young players in starter Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny DeLuca and subsequently signing Glasnow to a five-year, $136.6 million extension.
Glasnow then posted a 3.49 ERA in his first 134 innings, striking out 168 batters and issuing 35 walks — oftentimes looking like a bona fide ace. But his arm held up for little more than four months.
Roberts said Glasnow will be shut down from throwing for an undetermined amount of time. The concern is that he might have suffered further damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, which he repaired via Tommy John surgery in August of 2021. Roberts said Glasnow’s UCL is intact, though the diagnosis of a sprained elbow typically means the ligament has sustained at least some damage.
It’s only the latest injury development for a team that is working through too many of them.
Clayton Kershaw, fighting through a bone spur in his left big toe, has been throwing off a makeshift mound but there still isn’t a definitive timetable for his return. Gavin Stone, meanwhile, is dealing with shoulder inflammation and has yet to restart his throwing program. The other two main options for the rotation, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller, have struggled.
Roberts nonetheless attempted to strike a positive tone.
“It’s manageable,” he said of the pitching injuries. “We’re doing it. I think the main thing is that we have to just continue to stay focused on the players that are available to us and winning a baseball game that night. To the guys’ credit, that’s what they’ve done, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot given all that we’ve gone through this year. We’ve still got a pretty good ballclub.”
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Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Glasnow was put on the injured list Monday with what the Los Angeles Dodgers described as shoulder inflammation, joining fellow frontline starter Blake Snell, who has been sidelined by a similar injury.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Glasnow’s right shoulder is structurally sound but is also dealing with what Roberts called “overall body soreness.”
Glasnow gave up back-to-back homers in Sunday’s first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then was removed from the game after experiencing discomfort while warming up for the second. Afterward, Glasnow expressed frustration at his constant string of injuries and speculated that his latest ailment might stem from the mechanical adjustments he made to improve the health of his elbow.
Glasnow sat out the 2½ months of last season — including the playoffs — with what was initially diagnosed as an elbow sprain, a big reason why the Dodgers were relegated to only three starting pitchers in their march toward a World Series title. Now, he is one of eight starting pitchers on the Dodgers’ injured list.
One of those arms, Tony Gonsolin, will be activated Wednesday to make his first major league start in 20 months. But the Dodgers are short enough on pitching that they’ll have to stage a bullpen game the day before.
“Pitching is certainly volatile,” said Roberts, who added journeyman right-hander Noah Davis to the roster in Glasnow’s place. “We experienced it last year and essentially every year. I think the thing that’s probably most disconcerting is the bullpen leading Major League Baseball in innings. When you’re talking about the long season, the starters are built up to go take those innings down. That’s sort of where my head is at as far as trying to make sure we don’t redline these guys in the pen.”
Dodgers relievers entered Monday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins having accumulated 121⅓ innings, 7⅔ more than the Chicago White Sox, who are already on a 122-loss pace.
Glasnow and Snell aren’t expected to be out for a prolonged period, but their timetables are uncertain. Clayton Kershaw could return before the end of May, but Shohei Ohtani might not serve as a two-way player until after the All-Star break. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki could temporarily assume a traditional five-day schedule, as opposed to the once-a-week routine they’ve been following, but the Dodgers have only four starting pitchers on their active roster.
Glasnow, 31, is in his 10th year in the big leagues but has never compiled more than 134 innings in a season, a mark he set last year. The Dodgers acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays and subsequently signed him to a five-year, $136.56 million extension in December 2023 with the thought that his injury issues might be behind him.
“Tyler said it — very frustrating,” Roberts said. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of it.”
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