The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the final days of Spring Training as they are due to depart for South Korea next week in order to begin the 2024 regular season with the Seoul Series against the San Diego Padres.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted the team will likely have a piggyback situation for his starting pitchers to begin the season because of their truncated Cactus League schedule. That plan would help take pressure off starters in the Seoul Series, which are expected to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow.
The Dodgers have not yet officially named the right-handers their probables for the international games, nor what order they would pitch in.
While looking ahead to the start of the season, Roberts said of greater concern for the Dodgers is ensuring Yamamoto and Glasnow are as prepared as possible, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“This is a unique ramp up for everyone. Like I said, it’s two games that matter but it’s just two games. So the entirety of the season and making sure these guys are ready to take down the starts, that’s most important.”
Yamamoto has made two Cactus League starts, both of which were on a Wednesday, and had mixed results. Yamamoto dazzled in his Dodgers Spring Training debut but struggled in his outing this week.
He attributed some of that to not finding a rhythm when pitching out of the stretch but also downplayed concern due to experimenting with various changes.
Glasnow has also made two starts in Cactus League play, plus an additional outing in a ‘B’ game against Minor Leaguers on a backfield at Camelback Ranch. That outing allowed Glasnow to stretch out to four innings, which suggests he could be full-go in time for the Seoul Series.
Dodgers believe Tyler Glasnow can remain healthy
Glasnow has as high of a ceiling of any starting pitcher in MLB, with the largest question mark on his career being his health.
But the Dodgers front office has been consistent in their confident approach to Glasnow’s injury history, his ability to remain healthy how much potential he can bring to the rotation.
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