Dodgers' Dave Roberts Provides Hopeful Timeline for Tyler Glasnow's Return
Minutes before the Los Angeles Dodgers' game against the St. Louis Cardinals began, pitcher Tyler Glasnow was placed on the 15-day injured list.
"He's got some elbow tendinitis," Roberts told SportsNet LA. "And this came about after his bullpen and after his ‘pen, I forgot which day it was, he felt good. The next day in catch play, it flared up a little bit so right now it’s tendonitis."
"We took scans and that’s what came of it. Our expectation is that it’s going to be the two weeks, we back date a few days. When his time is up, he’ll be ready to make the start and we’ll plug him in somewhere.”
While an MRI didn't show any structural damage to Glasnow's elbow, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts still wanted to play it safe and give the Los Angeles ace time to recover.
“The impetus of putting him on the IL is so we don’t have to worry about how we manage him moving forward,” Roberts said, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “He was fighting tooth and nail to make the start [on Saturday], but we’ve been very consistent as far as getting guys ready for the stretch run, and he’s a big part of finishing this season off the right way."
“If he were to make the start, I would’ve been on pins and needles from the first throw, and I don’t think that’s good for him or good for the team. We made the right decision. Tyler was really disappointed because he wanted to take the baseball, but I think as an organization this was something we had to do.”
Glasnow has been a standout pitcher this season. He currently has a 3.49 ERA and a 9-6 record, with a career-high 168 strikeouts in 134 innings. Overall, Glasnow has held batters to a .190 batting average.
While it may be disappointing to have Glasnow sit out right now, especially with the tight race for first place in the National League, it's smarter to keep the ace safe for a likely postseason.
“When he comes back, I think the governor is off,” Roberts said. “That’s the point of being in this process. He’s not going to come back until we feel like we can use him the way he’s supposed to be used, as a major league ace.”
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