A week ago, Tyler Glasnow was beginning to turn back into a question mark.
asserted
Glasnow → begin → mark
So, the Dodgers sent him home and hoped he would reset.
asserted
he → send → him
Last Saturday, the All-Star pitcher looked all out of sorts in a four-inning, four-run and frankly foreboding start during the team’s visit to Miami.
asserted
pitcher → look → Miami
He was battling his mechanics.
asserted
He → battle → mechanics
He was stretching out his long-bothersome back.
asserted
He → stretch → back
And, most concerningly, he was losing the confident demeanor the Dodgers had seen when he first returned from his latest extended stint on the injured list last month.
asserted
he → lose → list
Thus, instead of accompanying the team on the second leg of its road trip this week in Cincinnati, Glasnow traveled immediately back to Los Angeles the day after his clunker against the Marlins.
asserted
Glasnow → accompany → Marlins
Just a week where he could focus on his delivery and try to keep his season from once again slipping off track.
uncertain
he → focus → track
“He got back on Pacific Standard Time, in his own bed, one leg of travel versus the two,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday afternoon.
asserted
Roberts → get → two
“He threw his bullpen a few days ago.
asserted
He → throw → bullpen
That went great.
asserted
That → go → ?
So he’s dialed in.”
asserted
he → dial → ?
In a six-inning, two-run, 10-strikeout start in Friday’s 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, there was still more dialing in left for Glasnow to do.
asserted
Glasnow → be → Giants
He hung a curveball in the second inning that Jung Hoo Lee belted for a home run.
asserted
Lee → hang → run
He lost his feel pitching from the stretch after a leadoff single in the third, giving up another run that briefly put the Dodgers behind before they stormed back with five home runs –– including four in the eighth inning alone –– from their recently resurgent offense.
asserted
they → lose → offense
The important thing, though, was that Glasnow felt better.
With his health.
asserted
Glasnow → feel → health
“I think I feel relatively consistent.
asserted
I → think → ?
It’s just a matter of, sometimes I’m not going to feel good, sometimes I will,” Glasnow said.
asserted
Glasnow → ’ → ?
“Today, I think it was a step in the right direction.
asserted
it → think → direction
I think it’s better than feeling really good for a long time before [the playoffs].
asserted
it → think → playoffs
I’d rather kind of feel it, work through some stuff and have a good one right before playoffs.
asserted
I → feel → playoffs
So I think I’m in a good spot right now.”
asserted
I → think → spot
That might sound counter-intuitive for a pitcher who could be crucial to the Dodgers’ postseason plans.
uncertain
who → sound → plans
It might be rationalization from an 11-year veteran who has never made it through a full regular season healthy.
uncertain
who → make → season
Then again, it’s a blueprint that worked well enough for Glasnow last year, when he only felt his mechanics click in the last few weeks before the start of the playoffs yet went on to post a 1.69 ERA in six October outings.
asserted
mechanics → ’ → outings
“It is just making sure he’s feeling good, he’s healthy, which he is,” Roberts said.
asserted
Roberts → make → ?
“So now it’s just letting him go do what he does and bet on the talent to perform.
asserted
he → let → talent
That’s where I think we all feel good, especially Tyler right now, just knowing the health and where the head’s at, all that stuff.
asserted
head → ’ → health
We’re in a good spot.”
asserted
We → ’re → spot
Roberts struck a decidedly different tone after Glasnow’s start last week, saying then that the right-hander “didn’t feel great coming into the game as far as kind of overall body.”
asserted
hander → strike → body
That revelation raised alarm bells regarding the oft-injured 33-year-old –– who had already missed more than three months this season with a back spasms problem that lasted far longer than initially anticipated.
asserted
that → raise → problem
His absence in Cincinnati was also conspicuous, turning Friday’s outing into something of a late-season litmus test.
asserted
absence → turn → test
“This is an important start,” Roberts said beforehand.
asserted
Roberts → say → ?
“He knows it.”
asserted
He → know → it
“I thought he did a good job of making pitches when he needed to,” Roberts said, encouraged by Glasnow’s ability to get swing-and-miss, as well as the way he retired 10 of his final 11 batters in a 98-pitch performance.
asserted
he → think → performance
For his part, Glasnow downplayed whatever concerns had been lingering about his health of late.
asserted
concerns → downplay → health
He acknowledged he felt “not great” last week.
asserted
he → acknowledge → ?
He cited the cross-country flight as perhaps getting him out of whack.
asserted
He → cite → whack
But he also noted that, “in the course of a season, you’re not always going to feel good.”
asserted
you → note → season
“It wasn’t anything crazy,” he added.
asserted
he → add → ?
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
