Tyler Glasnow’s issues have been the identical for years.
Spending an excessive amount of time caught up in his personal head, and never sufficient time really pitching on the sector.
Ever because the Dodgers acquired the tall, lanky and Southern California-raised right-hander, these two points have plagued the $136.5-million acquisition in ways in which have pissed off him, the workforce and its fan base.
Glasnow made 22 begins final yr (a career-high in his injury-plagued profession) earlier than a nagging elbow drawback ended his season early. This time period, he managed solely 5 begins earlier than his shoulder began barking, touchdown him on the injured listing for one more prolonged stint.
Via all of it, Glasnow has talked repeatedly concerning the have to be extra “external” on the mound — centered extra on execution and compete-level than the aches and pains in his physique and imperfections in his supply.
But, with every new setback, the veteran pitcher was left scrambling for solutions, consistently tinkering together with his mechanics and toiling together with his mindset in hopes of hanging an equilibrium between each.
Which is why, as Glasnow neared his newest return to motion, he tried to simplify issues. For actual, this time.
No extra worrying about backbone angle and launch level. No extra mid-game ideas concerning the many transferring components in his throwing sequence.
“I don’t even know,” when requested final week how he modified his mechanics throughout his most up-to-date absence, the type of bodily ignorance that may really be factor within the 31-year-old’s case.
“I’m just going out and being athletic and not trying to look at it. And if there’s something I need to fix, or something the coaches see, then I’ll worry about it. But I’m just going out … [and] getting in that rhythm. Getting back into a starting routine.”
Two begins in, that new routine appears promising.
After pitching 5 strong innings of one-run ball in Milwaukee final week, Glasnow began the second half of the season with one other step ahead Friday, spinning a six-inning, one-run gem within the Dodgers’ 2-0 loss to the Brewers at Dodger Stadium.
Because the Dodgers (58-40) got here out of the All-Star break, few gamers appeared as pivotal to their long-term success as Glasnow.
The membership is relying on him and fellow nine-figure free-agent signee Blake Snell (who, like Glasnow, missed virtually the entire first half with a shoulder harm however could possibly be again in motion by the tip of the month) to bolster a rotation that has missed them dearly.
To hitch Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and in some capability Shohei Ohtani, on the forefront of a pitching workers looking for important enchancment because it tries to repeat as World Sequence champions.
The Dodgers — who want to keep away from including a beginning pitcher on the commerce deadline, and may need a tough time discovering an impression addition comparable to Jack Flaherty final summer time even when they fight — did have related hopes for Glasnow final season.
Even when he first went down together with his elbow harm in mid-August, the preliminary expectation was that he’d be again nicely in time for the playoff push.
As an alternative, Glasnow’s arm by no means ceased to hassle him. When he tried ramping up for a dwell batting follow session in mid-September, he successfully pulled the plug on his season when his arm nonetheless didn’t really feel proper.
Ever since, Glasnow has lived in a world of frustration, spending his winter attempting to craft a more healthy supply solely to run into extra issues throughout the first month of this season.
“Certainly the talent is undeniable,” supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned final week, forward of Glasnow’s return. “But I think for me, for us, you want the dependability. That’s something that I’m looking for from Tyler from here on out. To know what you’re going to get when he takes that ball every fifth or sixth day.”
On Friday, Glasnow produced a template value following.
Flashing elevated fastball velocity for the second-straight outing — routinely hitting 98-99 mph on the gun — Glasnow crammed up the strike zone, going after hitters together with his premium four-seamer and rising reliance on a late-breaking sinker.
His big-bending curveball performed completely off them, with Glasnow pulling the string for awkward swings and comfortable contact.
He retired the primary 5 batters he confronted, and didn’t let a ball out of the infield till Brice Turang’s two-out single within the third. He was late attending to the mound initially of the fourth, leading to an computerized ball to the leadoff batter, however remained unfazed, retiring the aspect so as.
Milwaukee’s Caleb Durbin hits a run-scoring double in entrance of Dodgers catcher Will Smith within the fifth inning Friday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Related Press)
Glasnow did wobble within the fifth in opposition to Milwaukee (57-40). Instantly struggling to find the ball, he walked leadoff hitter Isaac Collins on 5 pitches earlier than giving up an RBI double to Caleb Durbin in a 2-and-0 rely, when he left a sinker over the center of the plate.
However then he settled down, escaped the inning with out additional injury, and labored round a high-hopping one-out single from Jackson Chourio within the sixth by hanging out William Contreras and Christian Yelich.
The outing marked Glasnow’s first time finishing six innings since April 13 in opposition to the Chicago Cubs, and was his first such outing yielding just one earned run since final June.
Sadly for Glasnow, he was the second-best pitcher on the bump Friday. Reverse him, younger Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester dominated the Dodgers over six scoreless innings, recording the second-most strikeouts of his profession by fanning 10. Struggling veteran Kirby Yates didn’t assist in reduction of Glasnow, both, giving up a house run to Durbin within the seventh that despatched the Dodgers to a disappointing defeat.
Nonetheless, for a workforce with a snug division lead and the shortest World Sequence odds of any membership within the majors for the time being, getting good beginning pitching stays probably the most urgent big-picture concern for the Dodgers.
On the finish of final yr, and for a lot of the primary half this season, Glasnow was unable to assist. Now, he would possibly lastly be displaying flashes he can.
“[I want to] just go out and be athletic,” Glasnow mentioned final week. “Just go out and compete.”
