Tyler Glasnow battled persistent elbow problems for three years in Tampa Bay before his ulnar collateral ligament gave out in 2021, the 6-foot-8 right-hander undergoing Tommy John surgery that August in which the replacement ligament was reinforced with an internal brace.
When Glasnow returned to go 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA and 162 strikeouts in 21 starts for the Rays in 2023, missing two months because of an oblique strain but experiencing no significant arm injuries, he was convinced his elbow issues were finally behind him.
All of which made the frustration in his voice even more palpable on Friday as Glasnow discussed his latest setback, an elbow sprain that will knock him out of the playoffs in his first season with the Dodgers after last December’s trade from Tampa Bay.
“It’s just, like, exhausting,” said Glasnow, who signed a five-year, $136.5-million extension with the Dodgers. “I’ve just done this so many times. When it happens the first time, you try to find ways to prevent it in the future. Then it happens again, and you try to find more ways to prevent it. And it’s just like, over and over again.
“I wanted to come here and pitch in the postseason and win a World Series, and right at the time when [I would be gearing up for playoffs], I’ve just been told I can’t do that. So this one sucks the most, for sure.”
Glasnow went 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 22 starts this season, reaching career highs in strikeouts (168) and innings pitched (134) before going on the 15-day injured list because of elbow discomfort on Aug. 16.
Glasnow resumed throwing a few weeks later and appeared to be trending up after two encouraging bullpen sessions, but after warming up to face batters in a two-inning simulated game in Atlanta on Sept. 13, Glasnow walked from the bullpen mound to the clubhouse, telling Dodgers coaches he felt discomfort in his elbow.
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“Toward the end of my warmups, my last five throws, I felt something wasn’t right structurally,” said Glasnow, 31. “It was something weird. You always go through stuff as a pitcher, but it was a different feeling. Nothing too crazy, but I just thought it would be a good time to shut it down.”
A follow-up MRI test revealed the sprain, an injury that Glasnow doesn’t believe will require surgery but will sideline him for the rest of the season.
“I felt great [up until the simulated game],” Glasnow said. “All my bullpens were really good. Everything was coming out [good]. Stuff-wise and velo-wise, it was game-ready. I thought it was good to go, and then, I just kind of ended up not being OK.”
Glasnow missed some time around the All-Star break because of a back injury, but he said his elbow felt fine up until his last two starts in early August, when he was “kind of getting out of whack mechanically,” he said. “It felt like regular soreness, nothing crazy.”
Glasnow said he has been told by several biomechanical experts and coaches that his pitching mechanics are sound, but sometimes he can get “a little long” in his delivery, a common problem for pitchers as tall as Glasnow.
Glasnow has averaged 7½ feet of “extension,” which quantifies how much closer a pitcher’s release point is to home plate, for the past two seasons, well over the average of 6 feet, 2 inches for major league right-handers.
That usually helps Glasnow’s four-seam fastball, which averaged 96.3 mph this season, play up, but if it is putting more strain on his elbow, Glasnow might look to cut back on that extension before next season.
“I have such a long extension that I might be putting stress on my arm,” Glasnow said. “If there are ways I can maybe shorten up certain things in my delivery, or make my delivery more efficient for each start and keep it as consistent as possible over the course of the season, I’m gonna try. I want to get my arm in a good spot to relieve some of the tension in my elbow.”