The Los Angeles Dodgers made a significant move in acquiring Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays, giving them a significant upgrade to their rotation but needing to part ways with Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca.
The Southern California native joined the team he grew up watching at Dodger Stadium with the responsibility of being one of their frontend starting pitchers. Not only is Glasnow now a part of his childhood team, he is getting an opportunity to play with Shohei Ohtani.
“I’m ecstatic,” Glasnow said. “I’ve watched the Dodgers from afar for so long and last year the team was so good. I think when Shohei signed, it was that immediate, ‘I want to be on that team.’
“I just want to pick his brain and know what he’s learned. He just seems like such a cool dude and probably one of the best baseball players to have ever lived. I want to be on a field with that guy. I’m just extremely excited.”
Ohtani’s contract structure allowed for the Dodgers to acquire players like Glasnow. Ohtani also took it upon himself to reach out to Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, providing his own pitch in recruiting them.
While he played a role in Glasnow being willing to sign a contract extension with the Dodgers as part of the trade, so too was the organization’s strong reputation.
“When I heard about the Dodgers, I called a lot of people who played with the organization and asked a lot of questions,” Glasnow said.
“I’ve only heard positive things. Shohei sent me the video, and it was awesome. It was cool to get that video. He just said he wants me to come on the team and he hopes to hit some home runs for me and join me on the pitching staff the following year.
“It was an awesome video. It felt really cool. Someone I’ve watched from afar, what he’s been able to do on a baseball field is nothing short of insanity. It was cool and definitely added a lot of points for me to go to the Dodgers. So I think his recruitment worked.”
Impact of Shohei Ohtani on Tyler Glasnow
Both Ohtani and Glasnow are very much power right-handed arms with an ability to touch the triple-digits with their fastballs, and snap off devastating secondary pitches. That is what make them truly dominant, when healthy.
However, the two have both undergone procedures in recent years and been limited by injuries. Glasnow is confident his injury issues are behind him, and the Dodgers are waiting on Ohtani to recover.
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