While warming up before a simulated game on Friday, Tyler Glasnow felt “discomfort” in his right arm, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett and other reporters. Glasnow will undergo testing this weekend to see if any structural issues are present, and “I just know we’re going to re-assess and see how he feels over the coming days, see where we can pick up throwing again,” Roberts said.
Even in the best-case scenario of a clean MRI, there’s still plenty of uncertainty over what this setback means for Glasnow’s chances of a return. The regular season ends just over two weeks, and while the Dodgers are a virtual lock to make the playoffs, it is far from a certainty whether or not Glasnow will be fully healthy and ramped up in time to join a postseason roster. The minor league season ends next weekend, so it seems unlikely Glasnow will be ready for a rehab assignment, so he’d have to rely on simulated games or other prep work that doesn’t involve a proper in-game setting.
Elbow tendinitis has kept Glasnow from pitching since Aug. 11, cutting short a quality season that had seen the right-hander post a 3.49 ERA and an outstanding 32.2% strikeout rate over 134 innings. As Plunkett notes, 109 of those innings came before Glasnow was placed on the 15-day IL in early July due to lower back soreness, and the righty returned from that injury to make four starts before he was sidelined with his elbow issue.
Glasnow’s lengthy injury history is well-documented, and his 134 innings already represent a career-high over his nine MLB seasons. In regards to his elbow specifically, Glasnow had a Tommy John surgery in 2021 that cost him almost all of his 2022 campaign with the Rays, save for two regular-season games and a playoff appearance. An oblique strain then delayed the start of his 2023 season by two months, but he stayed healthy and posted a 3.53 ERA in 120 innings for Tampa. This performance inspired the Dodgers to acquire Glasnow in a major offseason trade and sign him to a $136.5M extension that runs through the 2028 season.
In the more immediate term, Los Angeles faces the prospect of not having Glasnow available for his first postseason in Dodger Blue. Friday’s news is an unfortunate continuation of the pitching injuries that have hampered the Dodgers all season, as 17 different pitchers have made at least one start for the club in 2024.
L.A.’s rotation consists of Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, and Landon Knack. Beyond Glasnow, Roberts said Gavin Stone (on the IL since Aug. 31 due to right shoulder inflammation) will start a throwing program this weekend, but Stone’s timeline is still uncertain. Tony Gonsolin will start his second minor league rehab on Sunday as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. However, Roberts previously downplayed the chances of Gonsolin returning in time for regular-season work or any playoff availability. Clayton Kershaw is throwing off a portable mound but is still bothered by the bone spur in his big left toe.
Given all of the question marks the Dodgers’ pitching staff faces as the postseason approaches, Roberts raised a bit of a stir in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM when he implied there was a slim possibility Shohei Ohtani could pitch in the playoffs. Ohtani underwent UCL surgery almost exactly one year ago and wasn’t expected to return to pitching until 2025, though he started to throw as part of his established rehab plan.
In speaking with Plunkett and company Friday, Roberts revisited the topic, noting that while “it’s not a zero percent chance” that Ohtani is available to pitch, “the odds of it coming to pass are very slim.” The Dodgers haven’t even talked with Ohtani about pitching in 2024, and Roberts noted that “the conversation would be, ’put it out of your head.’ ”Obviously, the club doesn’t want to do anything that will jeopardize Ohtani’s long-term pitching future or even do anything that would impact his availability as a hitter for at least this year’s playoffs.