After offseason changes, Tyler Glasnow has familiar goal with Dodgers: ‘To stay healthy'

Los Angeles Times

24-02-2025

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — In his first year with the team last season, the Dodgers got the full Tyler Glasnow experience.
In the first half of the campaign, the $136.5 million offseason addition was one of the best pitchers in baseball.
He had a sub-3.00 ERA into late June, recording 135 strikeouts over his first 100 innings. He earned his first-ever All-Star selection, and was fulfilling his potential as the ace of the Dodgers' starting rotation.
Most of all, though, Glasnow was staying healthy, making a career-high 17 consecutive starts without interruption in what was shaping up to be a corner-turning moment in his injury-plagued career.
'When he's right and synced up,' manager Dave Roberts said, 'it's as good as anyone.'
Alas, in a season that began with so much promise, old (and frustrating) problems resurfaced again.
Shortly before the All-Star break, Glasnow was placed on the injured list with lower back tightness, forcing him to miss a couple weeks as well as the Midsummer Classic.
When he returned to action, the 6-foot-4 right-hander didn't look as dominant, either. He struggled to rediscover a comfort level in his long-limbed delivery. From June 29 (shortly before he got hurt) to Aug. 11, he stumbled to a 5.29 ERA over six starts.
That's when, right as the Dodgers' shorthanded rotation needed him most, Glasnow went on the shelf for good, developing a case of elbow tendinitis that would ultimately end his season despite repeated attempts to come back in time for the playoffs.
'He just wasn't healthy,' Roberts said. 'He really wasn't.'
Thus, after being relegated to spectator during the team's World Series run last October, Glasnow arrived in camp this spring with a familiar objective.
'The number one goal this year is just to stay healthy,' Glasnow said at the team's DodgerFest fan event earlier this month. 'That's by far the number one goal.'
That pursuit began in earnest Monday, when Glasnow made his first Cactus League start of the spring in the Dodgers' 8-1 loss against the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark.
Glasnow threw just one inning, striking out his first two batters before yielding a pair of singles and a two-run double to veteran outfielder Austin Hays.
The small sample size, though, was enough for the 31-year-old to continue getting accustomed to a subtly altered delivery this year — one he hopes will limit the stress on his oft-injured arm, and allow him to do something he has yet to accomplish during his nine years in the majors: Stay healthy for an entire campaign.
'It was nice to be back out there,' Glasnow said afterward. 'It's been a while since being in an actual game. But I felt sharp. I felt good.'
For Glasnow, staying healthy has been an elusive task for years now. During his six seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, who converted the former fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates from reliever to starter in 2018, Glasnow never surpassed 120 innings in a single season because of repeated arm troubles. The low point came in 2021, when he underwent a Tommy John surgery that sidelined him until late the following season.
Last year, after the Dodgers traded for Glasnow and signed him to his five-year extension, he believed his injury problems were behind him, noting his elbow hadn't given him issues since his 2021 procedure.
By the start of the winter, though, Glasnow had returned to the drawing board, with his case of elbow tendinitis sending him on an offseason exploration for a more sustainable delivery.
Through conversations with both Dodgers coaches and private biomechanical instructors, Glasnow said he discovered he was 'flying open' too much in his old delivery; almost like a golfer over-rotating on each swing. To compensate, Glasnow unknowingly put more force on his elbow as he extended toward home plate.
Though Glasnow still set career-highs for starts (22) and innings pitched (134) in 2024, the extra stress finally caught up with him. And while he avoided any major injury — he got an MRI exam early in the offseason that confirmed his elbow had healed, he said, setting him up for a relatively normal winter throwing program — he still spent the last several months looking for solutions.
The fix, Glasnow said, has centered on maintaining a better 'spine angle' in his delivery (in other words, not letting his upper body fly open as much) and 'keeping my direction toward home plate' on every pitch. His hope is that it will not only help him prevent injuries, but also improve the consistency of his command.
'When I'm in a healthier position, it's just less effort for the same type of push,' Glasnow said. 'So it's just trying to carry that through the season.'
More challenges await Glasnow in Year 2 with the Dodgers.
While his new delivery should ease the stress on his arm, it will pose a mental test for a pitcher who sometimes struggles with what he describes as an overly 'mechanical headspace' on the mound — where his thoughts become preoccupied with his mechanics instead of simply executing each pitch.
'He'll be the first to tell you that he gets a little too mechanical-driven,' Roberts said. 'When you're in a big-league ballgame, it's about executing and competing and getting hitters out.'
The happy balance, both he and Dodgers coaches have said, is when Glasnow is feeling 'athletic' on the mound; thoughtlessly mixing his upper-90s mph fastball with a swing-and-miss combination of sliders and curveballs, instead of thinking about the details of his delivery or worrying about the status of his health.
'The theme,' Glasnow said, 'is just like, 'I'm gonna try and work on, when I go out in the game, to just be as athletic as I can.''
For one inning, at least, Monday was a step in the right direction. Whether it can translate into a healthy, consistent and full season of pitching? Only time will tell.
'This whole offseason, he's been trying to work on getting more athletic, getting his delivery right,' Roberts said. 'That can kind of take care of his arm, and he's done that. So now, you got the subtleties of competing, and how to navigate a game.'