GLENDALE, Ariz. — The adjustments are refined, however Tyler Glasnow is hoping that some offseason tweaks to his supply will assist him obtain sustainable success in his second season with the Dodgers.
On the identical time, it is all about hanging the suitable steadiness for Glasnow, one thing that he is made strides towards this spring.
“I believe he will get too mechanical at instances and [doesn’t] let his pure athleticism, capacity and compete drive his outing,” supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned earlier than Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the White Sox. “And I believe this spring, that is the place he is been. … He is freed himself up much more this spring.”
Expectations are sky-high for this yr’s Dodgers rotation, whose locks to open the season embrace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki and Glasnow. The extent of expertise amongst these 4 starters — and the depth past them — is such that in a best-case situation, this Dodgers rotation might go down as one of many biggest in baseball historical past.
That will depend on everybody staying wholesome, which is rarely a assure.
When the Dodgers traded for — and prolonged — Glasnow forward of the 2024 season, they had been conscious of the questions surrounding his sturdiness. He took on the heaviest workload of his Main League profession by way of video games began (22) and innings (134) in his first season with Los Angeles, however even then, his yr got here to a untimely conclusion on account of proper elbow tendinitis.
Earlier than Glasnow’s season ended, he performed a key function in anchoring an injury-ravaged Dodgers rotation, although he did not throw a pitch within the postseason. He and the Dodgers are working to make sure that he might be wholesome and efficient all through the season — and ideally, via one other deep playoff run.
“I believe he’s annoyed on the manner it ended final yr, extra so as a result of he needed to be on the sphere and [help] us compete and win video games,” pitching coach Mark Prior mentioned earlier this spring. “Let’s not child ourselves — he helped us win quite a lot of video games via the course of the season. … I believe coming into this yr, there was a contemporary perspective.”
This previous offseason, Glasnow consulted a number of biomechanical specialists, some with the Dodgers and others exterior the group, and decided that he wanted to right his backbone angle.
When Glasnow is conscious of his backbone angle, it prevents him from “flying open” and placing extra stress on his elbow. He describes it as a more healthy manner of getting extension in his supply — and his is already elite at a mean of seven.5 ft, rating within the 99th percentile amongst certified Main Leaguers in 2024.
In contrast to some changes, which might require extra of an overhaul, this tweak has not been troublesome for Glasnow to implement.
“I really feel like I am not even doing it,” Glasnow mentioned. “Then I am going have a look at video, and it is good. It isn’t good, however it’s completely different sufficient. It isn’t an enormous adjustment to the place it is simple to see on movie anyway, however I really feel higher.”
Final season, Glasnow’s arm was not recovering properly after begins. He went on the injured checklist in mid-August with proper elbow discomfort, however issues acquired to a heightened level of concern in September. Glasnow had been working towards rejoining the Dodgers however was as an alternative shut down for the season.
“After begins, and truly typically throughout begins,” Roberts mentioned, “he simply did not really feel comfy along with his arm. … Proper now, it is actually free and simple.”
After having the ability to relaxation his arm and work towards a possible answer within the offseason, Glasnow feels good by way of well being. He has at the very least yet one more begin forward of him — which is able to are available in one of many Dodgers’ exhibition video games in Japan forward of the Tokyo Sequence — earlier than taking the ball within the common season.
With three spring begins below his belt, Glasnow has discovered that his offseason work appears to be having the supposed impact in a small pattern.
“I believe I get well higher,” Glasnow mentioned. “It is nonetheless early; it is arduous to say. However I do really feel good.”
