The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing the reality of entering the postseason without two of their most important starting pitchers in Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw is dealing with left big toe inflammation caused by a bone spur and likely won’t pitch again during the regular season. The Dodgers are hopeful the left-hander will be available for the playoffs, but that’s far from a certainty.
Meanwhile, Glasnow is out for the rest of the year after suffering a setback in his recovery from elbow tendinitis. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said additional scans revealed Glasnow suffered a right elbow sprain.
The right-hander disagreed with the team over their decision to place him on the 15-day injured list in the first place. Glasnow has since left the team, which fueled speculation that he is unhappy with how things played out.
However, Roberts noted that Glasnow’s absence was approved by the team and he is aware of where the pitcher has gone, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Basically, I knew he was going to be gone. I just don’t feel it needed to be public information where he’s going,” Roberts said. “It’s certainly an excused absence. Obviously he’s very disappointed and frustrated. I supported the fact that he needed to be away and that’s okay.”
It isn’t clear why Glasnow left the Dodgers, but Roberts at least clarified that the team knew he would be going away.
If Glasnow left the team out of anger, it could have caused some problems down the line for both sides. The 31-year-old is in the first of a five-year contract extension he signed with the Dodgers after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Glasnow enjoyed a successful first season in L.A. when healthy, going 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 0.95 WHIP and 11.3 strikeouts per nine over a career-high 134 innings pitched (22 starts).
Dodgers postseason rotation without Tyler Glasnow
With both Glasnow and Kershaw unlikely to factor into the Dodgers’ postseason plans, they are looking at a potential rotation of Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and two of Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack and potentially Justin Wrobleski.
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