Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow frustrated by ‘exhausting’ elbow issues

Glasnow was convinced injuries were finally behind him after making 21 starts for Tampa Bay in 2023, but he went on the IL with elbow discomfort in mid-August and will miss the playoffs. He has been told his biomechanics are strong but a more compact delivery could lower the stress on his arm.

Sep 21, 2024 - 08:00

Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow frustrated by ‘exhausting’ elbow issues

LOS ANGELES — Calling his injury history “exhausting,” Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow is resigned to an offseason of mechanical adjustments once he can get to the bottom of the elbow sprain that ended yet another season prematurely.

Glasnow said he still hasn’t been told anything more specific than his diagnosis of a sprain. He will proceed on a recovery plan even if he won’t pitch in the playoffs, with more examinations and scans in the near future.

“I think re-image it, see if it’s healed, and then I think I’ll probably have to start throwing again or whatever, and just test it again and see if it holds up,” Glasnow said.

Glasnow did not say a surgical procedure was planned when asked.

Only when he is feeling better will he work on his plan for adjusted mechanics. At 6-foot-8 with long arms, Glasnow believes his frame has led to his injury-filled past.

“I know I have good mechanics (in) talking with a bunch of different people, and biomechanically everything is good,” Glasnow said. “I just think I have such a long extension, and I put so much stress on my arm being so long.”

His plan to alter those mechanics will have more to do with creating a more compact delivery.

“If there’s ways that I can maybe shorten up certain things in my delivery, or somehow just make my delivery more efficient and each start, I’m just trying to keep it as consistent over the course of a season as possible,” said Glasnow, who signed a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension with the Dodgers in December. “That’s every pitcher’s dream, obviously.”

In addition to Tommy John surgery in 2021, Glasnow has dealt with elbow, shoulder and oblique injuries. All of it has prevented him from making more than 21 starts or pitching more than 120 innings until he had 22 starts and 134 innings this season, his ninth in the major leagues.

Glasnow went 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA this season, reaching a career highs in strikeouts (168) before going on the 15-day injured list because of elbow discomfort on Aug. 16. Glasnow resumed throwing a few weeks later and appeared to be trending in the right direction after two bullpen sessions, but after warming up to face batters in a two-inning simulated game in Atlanta on Sept. 13, he told Dodgers coaches he felt discomfort in his elbow. A follow-up MRI test revealed the sprain.

REDUCING THE LOAD

The Dodgers played a video of Shohei Ohtani’s accomplishments before his first at-bat and the first 50-50 player in major league history stepped out of the batter’s box and tipped his helmet to the crowd. All Dodgers players stood in front of the dugout railing to applaud.

Ohtani had six hits, three home runs, two stolen bases and 10 RBIs in an epic performance on Thursday in Miami to push him past both 50 home runs and 50 steals on the season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said finishing off the feat was a relief to Ohtani, “whether he admits it or not.”

“Reaching that marker is a big deal,” Roberts said. “Not that he’s not going to keep trying to be productive, but I think that that’s, that’s something that he had his sights on.”

With the San Diego Padres still in striking distance in the National League West, at four games back to begin play on Friday, Ohtani was back in the leadoff spot as the Dodgers played host to the Colorado Rockies.

“Yeah, no, there’s no days off right now,” Roberts said. “… We got in late. We’ve got to keep winning baseball games.”

The Dodgers’ charger flight from Miami landed in Los Angeles just after midnight late Thursday/early Friday.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

The Dodgers named catcher Dalton Rushing and left-hander Jackson Ferris their Minor League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.

Rushing, 23, hit 24 home runs with 82 RBIs in 110 games at Double-A and Triple-A this season. He also spent some time in left field in the latter half of the season, following his appearance in the Futures Game in Arlington, Texas, in July.

Ferris, 20, was 5-7 with a 3.20 ERA in 27 starts at Class-A and Double-A this season and had 145 strikeouts in 126⅔ innings. Ferris was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in January in the deal that cost the Dodgers infielder Michael Busch.

BULLPEN REFRESH

Right-hander Ben Casparuis was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, while left-hander Zach Logue was optioned.

Casparius is making his third appearance with the Dodgers but had just one appearance with a scoreless inning on Aug. 31 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Logue was overwhelmed in two appearances, giving up four runs and six hits in two innings.