by Cary Osborne
The outcome on Monday was not the ideal one. The Dodger offense struggled again in a 3–2 loss against the Cardinals to begin the homestand at Dodger Stadium.
But something meaningful happened on the mound.
There was something not quite right about Dodger starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow early.
The Cardinals were on his fastball. He wasn’t missing bats. And through two innings, he was fortunate that he had allowed one run.
Then he flipped the switch.
His fastball-heavy approach of the first two innings shifted to a breaking-ball-heavy approach in the third. It was a quick frame with two strikeouts.
Glasnow redirected from south to north in a hurry in one of his most meaningful starts as a Dodger.
From the third to the seventh inning, Glasnow retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced and struck out seven of them. The lone batter to reach base was shortstop Masyn Winn on a fourth-inning walk. From that point, Glasnow retired the last 11 batters he faced to end the game.
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When manager Dave Roberts was asked about how meaningful this start was for Glasnow, it made an impression on him enough to give a lengthy answer.
“Our goal hasn’t changed. It’s to win a World Series,” Roberts said. “We’re going to do that this year with starting pitching. And he’s going to be a big part of it. So to be able to have some outings where the cramps surface and (he) can’t finish, and to be able to right the ship and grow, I think is something that’s going to really help us, propel us through the postseason. And it’s not going to be linear. It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be things that you can’t control, and he’s finding a way to weather those things and continue to move forward. So for me, that’s kind of the silver lining for tonight. And really, really impressive, Tyler (was).”
Glasnow has had extremes this season. There was the start in Philadelphia on April 6 where cramps knocked him out after two innings. He allowed five runs and five walks. He walked five and allowed four runs in his last start on Tuesday in Cincinnati.
But now there are two of his last three starts where he has allowed one run over seven innings. The previous was a 12-strikeout performance on July 23.
On Monday, he didn’t earn a swing and miss until his 29th pitch of the night. It wasn’t that kind of night. The Cardinals swung and missed on 10 total pitches out of his 101. It was a called strikes night, as his 23 tied a high for a Dodger pitcher this season.
The 23 also marked a career high for Glasnow.
Glasnow threw 20 curveballs. Of the nine strikes he earned with the pitch, seven got him outs. The Cardinals were 0-for-7 against the pitch. They were 1-for-12 against his four-seamer — the one being a second-inning home run by Winn.
He recalibrated after the second.
Glasnow said the difference was pacing.
“Just having the conversation with (pitching coach Mark Prior), just trying to get back to going a little quicker. I just think I was late and nothing felt really good in the zone. My release point was really inconsistent,” Glasnow said on the adjustments. “I think just going (at a) quicker pace got my arm to move a little quicker, and then everything just started to go. It kind of depends on the start, but that was what helped today.”
Glasnow shows the ability to redirect and head north was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.