Glasnow exits, the Dodgers explode, and Brock Stewart is back. Thursday’s got a lot going on. Welcome to Dodgers Daily — injury news, a historic offensive outburst, and a bullpen shuffle all landed in the same 24-hour stretch. We’re gonna get into what Glasnow being back means for the rotation, whether this offense can stay this hot, and Kiké starting his road back. And Ohtani got zero run support again. I don’t want to talk about it, but yeah, we’re talking about it. Here's Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:
Tyler Glasnow left his start on Wednesday afternoon against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park after only one inning, with the Dodgers right-hander suffering lower back pain per an announcement from the team. Glasnow was warming up for the second inning when he felt something, and was quickly joined on the mound by catcher Dalton Rushing, manager Dave Roberts, head athletic trainer Thomas Albert and the entire infield.
Tyler Glasnow was done after one inning in Houston yesterday — lower back pain, and the whole infield was out there on the mound with him. No IL move yet, but that is not a good look. One inning. Just one. And of course it’s back pain, because with Glasnow it’s never just, like, a blister or something minor. My guy cannot stay on the field. To be fair, he’d been their best starter this season — 2.72 ERA, team lead in strikeouts and innings through April. And he still managed his thousandth career strikeout in that inning, got Yordan Alvarez looking on a curve. Small silver lining. Cool milestone, genuinely. But I remember 2023, I remember last year — every time this rotation looks elite, somebody goes down. I’m not panicking, I’m just… historically informed. From Noah Camras at Inside The Dodgers:
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 12-2, on Wednesday to win the series and finish off their six-game road trip at 3-3. The Dodgers offense and starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow each made history in the game, albeit Glasnow's coming with a bit of a sour taste when it was all said and done.
The Dodgers finish the road trip at .500 with a 12-2 win over Houston, and Glasnow hits 1,000 career strikeouts — fewest innings in MLB history for a starter to get there. That’s a real milestone. Fewest innings ever. The man is an absolute weapon when he’s out there. Of course the very next pitch something’s wrong and he’s walking off the mound — that’s the Glasnow experience. We still don’t know the full injury details, but he didn’t make it out of the first inning before the second-inning warmups. So yeah, the milestone comes with an asterisk today. I’m trying to stay positive, I really am. But this guy has been a walking injury report since they signed him, and I am not doing this again all summer. Eric Stephen, writing in True Blue LA:
The first of the 10 Dodgers to open the season on the injured list has been activated, with reliever Brock Stewart joining the team in Houston on Wednesday ahead of the series finale against the Astros at Daikin Park. Stewart was slowed this spring after right shoulder debridement surgery late last September.
Quick reinforcements update we’ve been tracking — Brock Stewart is officially active. He’s the first of those ten Opening Day IL guys back, and he’s joining the club in Houston. Six and a third scoreless innings in the minors, 48 percent strikeout rate — I don’t want to hear another word about bullpen depth concerns. He looks locked in. His velocity is a little down from last year, which is worth watching after shoulder surgery. But the swing-and-miss numbers are real, and Jake Eder heads back to Oklahoma City to make room. From True Blue LA:
Triple-A Oklahoma City has been a busy place for Dodgers on the mend for the past few weeks, with rehab assignments piling up over the last few days. Utility man Kiké Hernández is the latest to work his way back with the Comets, starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday night.
Kiké Hernández is officially in action — he started at third base for Triple-A Oklahoma City Tuesday night, went three at-bats, doubled, scored. Earliest he’s back with the big club is May 24. And apparently he told people at BP it’s the first time he’s felt fully healthy in about a year. That’s huge. I don’t want the guy back until he’s actually right, but man, we could use that versatility. OKC has basically turned into a Dodgers rehab ward at this point — Snell was out there Sunday, Kiké now. Deep organization problems or deep organization depth, depending on your mood. It’s depth, Cassidy. Obviously it’s depth. Only team in baseball that can have four guys rehabbing in Triple-A and still be fine. Don’t make it a crisis. Bill Plunkett, writing in Orange County Register:
HOUSTON — Shohei Ohtani was given the night off from hitting on Tuesday. The rest of the Dodgers’ lineup joined him. With Ohtani limited to pitching, the Dodgers’ lineup was held to six hits without him – half of them from Andy Pages – in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
Shohei Ohtani pitched well Tuesday in Houston, and the lineup thanked him by putting up one run while he was in the game. That’s two starts in a row now where the offense has basically gone dark without him in the batting order. Andy Pages carried half the hits himself, and the rest of these guys just watched. You’ve got the best player on the planet eating up innings for you, and you give him one run of support? That’s embarrassing. It’s two games, Devin. And Ohtani’s been slumping at the plate anyway, so it’s not like pulling him from the lineup is the difference between a dynasty and a disaster. Two games where the offense has looked completely lost without him batting — that feels like a pattern, not a sample size. This is exactly how it used to go wrong. Got thoughts on today’s Dodgers Daily Podcast, a story idea we should chase, or a correction? Send it our way at dodgersdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. We’re always glad to hear from you. You’ll find links to every story we mentioned today in the show notes, so if anything caught your ear, you can dig in there. That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for this Thursday. This is a Lantern Podcast.