LOS ANGELES — Health appears primed in the reserves for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who despite committing more than a billion dollars in baseball’s splashiest offseason are in dire need of reinforcements.
Tyler Glasnow, the club’s All-Star right-hander, will make his expected return from his short stint on the injured list on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.
The kicker, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday afternoon: Clayton Kershaw will return to the Dodgers’ rotation on Thursday, marking the three-time Cy Young winner’s official return from offseason shoulder surgery and starting the future Hall of Fame left-hander’s 17th season with the club.
Glasnow’s hiatus on the injured list came at an optimal time for his overall usage — he has thrown 109 innings already this season just 11 shy of his career-high – and amid a cluster of Dodgers pitching injuries that suddenly has made starting pitching a priority at this month’s deadline. No team in baseball has more pitchers on the injured list (11), though that number will decrease by two this coming week.
The right-hander is not expected to return with any strict innings limitations. But how the Dodgers chart a course Glasnow has never reached remains to be seen. To date, he has been the Dodgers’ most reliable arm, logging a 3.47 ERA in his 18 starts.
“For me, I believe in the player having skin in the game,” Roberts said. “If you’re going to have the conversation and if the player is on board, then we’re in it together regardless of the circumstance. Tyler’s time in the big leagues, he deserves to be part of that conversation whatever way we go.”
