by Cary Osborne
It’s pretty difficult to miss a guy who stands 6 feet, 8 inches tall. But when the Dodgers have the kind of offseason they had, it’s a little more understandable.
Yet there were zero questions asked to manager Dave Roberts about Tyler Glasnow during the skipper’s pregame press conference on Monday. It’s unusual that the day’s starting pitcher doesn’t draw curiosity in that setting. Instead, torpedo bats was the topic du jour.
The gifted, cerebral, laid-back Glasnow, by all appearances, would be fine with that. The right-hander who excels at drowning out noise seems to be pretty good when things are a little quieter.
Glasnow was firing from the jump on Monday, striking out the first two Atlanta Braves he faced in the first inning. It appeared he was on his way to striking out the side, getting ahead of slugging first baseman Matt Olson. Instead, he settled for a ground out in the first frame.
His evening wasn’t a straight line. He lost command at two points — throwing seven consecutive balls in the second inning and five straight in the fourth — but the veteran pitcher went into the fifth inning having allowed zero hits.
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It was in that inning that the Braves finally threatened the towering pitcher with singles from right fielder Jarred Kelenic and center fielder Michael Harris II. But with two outs and two on, Glasnow dealt three strikes to two-time Silver Slugger third baseman Austin Riley, getting him to swing and miss on a curveball.
Glasnow spun and threw a celebratory short uppercut after his eighth strikeout.
The Dodger offense — including home runs from Teoscar Hernández and Kiké Hernández — and the bullpen backed Glasnow in a 6–1 win.
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“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” said catcher Will Smith. “We’re fortunate to have him. He gave us five really good innings. He looked really good.”
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The 31-year-old was an All-Star last season in his first year as a Dodger. Nearly half of Glasnow’s starts were like this last year where he roadblocked the opposition and piled up the Ks.
But Glasnow’s season ended after his Aug. 11 start against Pittsburgh, due to an elbow sprain.
To say a lot had happened for the Dodgers between that start and Monday would be an understatement. Same with Glasnow.
He has restructured — from his hand positioning to his throwing program to grips on pitches to ditching weighted balls to doubling his distance on long toss.
“I’ve kind of changed a ton of stuff,” Glasnow said. “My body just feels a lot better. It’s moving more fluid, and all those little changes throughout my throwing routine and grips, like I said, have been really helpful so far.”
All that set him up for Monday, starting in the Dodgers’ sixth game of the season. Typically non-sentimental, Glasnow said getting back on a Major League mound and pitching in a big league game was meaningful.
“I think it was cool in spring. Obviously, it’s just a little different in the regular season, and it’s just nice to be home and pitching in Dodger Stadium,” Glasnow said. “Just the energy is unmatched. Walking out in the first inning and grabbing the ball, it was a very cool moment.”
A refined Tyler Glasnow returns and shows dominant ways of the past was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.