Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts delivered some powerful information to reporters this afternoon, as he indicated to the group’s beat (together with Juan Toribio of MLB.com) that right-hander Tyler Glasnow has been recognized with a sprained elbow and shall be shut down indefinitely, leaving him “extremely unlikely” to pitch once more in 2024. Glasnow suffered a setback in his throwing program yesterday and underwent testing that finally revealed the sprain.
The replace is a devastating blow to a Dodgers rotation that has been in flux for a lot of the yr as a consequence of accidents regardless of the intense depth they got here into the season with on paper. The 30-year-old Glasnow was an All-Star for the primary time in his profession throughout his debut season with L.A. and posted a 3.49 ERA with a 2.90 FIP and a 32.2% strikeout fee this yr, however he was sadly restricted to only 22 begins and 134 innings this season. Whereas that quantity falls wanting a full season of labor, each totals truly represent career-bests for the righty, whose earlier career-highs had been set final yr at 21 begins and 120 innings of labor respectively.
Glasnow’s lack of sturdiness all through his massive league profession didn’t deter the Dodgers from dealing outfielder Jonny DeLuca and right-hander Ryan Pepiot to the Rays to amass him alongside outfielder Manuel Margot this offseason, nor did it get in the best way of the membership finalizing an extension that assured the right-hander simply over $111.5MM in new cash from 2025 to 2028. Pepiot, who has posted a 3.76 ERA in 23 begins with the Rays this yr, has handled damage problems with his personal this season, and given Glasnow’s success with the membership when wholesome the Dodgers certainly don’t remorse including his top-of-the-rotation caliber arm to their beginning combine.
That doesn’t make the information concerning Glasnow’s doubtless absence from their postseason run any much less irritating, nonetheless. The Dodgers laid out nicely over a billion {dollars} in assured contracts this winter in pursuit of their first World Sequence championship in a full season since 1988 and in doing so added Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Teoscar Hernandez to a core of gamers that already included stars resembling Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. Whereas the additions of Hernandez and Ohtani have taken the membership’s offense to new ranges even despite absences from Betts and Freeman all year long, the rotation as soon as once more figures to be a big query mark for the membership this October with out Glasnow to assist stabilize issues.
Yamamoto returned from the 60-day injured listing earlier this month and figures to start out Recreation 1 for the Dodgers this winter, with deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty standing out as their most certainly contender to start out Recreation 2. Who will comply with these two within the membership’s postseason rotation just isn’t but clear, nonetheless. Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller have each struggled badly within the majors this yr with ERAs of 5.95 and eight.17 respectively, making them lackluster choices to start out doubtlessly pivotal playoff video games. Rookie Landon Knack has pitched pretty nicely in ten begins for the membership this yr, however the Dodgers certainly would like a extra skilled arm to comply with Yamamoto and Flaherty.
After all, the returns of different injured pitchers might assist to bolster the membership’s rotation forward of October. Rookie Gavin Stone could be a tantalizing possibility given his 3.53 ERA in 25 begins this yr, however the righty is presently on the shelf as a consequence of elbow irritation with no clear timetable for return. Veteran southpaw Clayton Kershaw can be on the injured listing, however has expressed hope that he’ll be capable of return this yr and would assist to fortify the membership’s rotation combine whilst he’s posted a pedestrian 4.50 ERA in seven begins this yr. Roberts additionally instructed earlier this week that there was a “very slim” risk that Ohtani might be made accessible to pitch in the course of the postseason, however it’s unattainable to think about the Dodgers altering their plans for the celebrity based mostly on right now’s information concerning Glasnow.
