Glasnow's back, Mookie's close, and now the Dodgers have too many good options. Yeah, I know — terrible problem to have. Welcome to Dodgers Daily. The bats are waking up in Houston, the rotation's getting crowded, and Mookie Betts is about to walk right back into the mix. And that's the fun part here — who stays put, who gets shifted around, and what all of it means once the games start stacking up. Other fanbases are out here stressing over injuries, and we're over here trying to fit everybody on the same roster. I can live with that. Andy Lane Chapman, writing in True Blue LA:
The most immediate concern was for their starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who exited Wednesday’s matinee game against the Houston Astros just after taking the mound to warm up for the second inning. Initial news was that it was Glasnow’s lower back that was bothering him.
The Dodgers finish the road trip at .500 and come home with two pretty good things: the offense finally showed up in Houston, and Tyler Glasnow isn't expected to hit the IL. The MRI is precautionary — and right now this looks like a scare, not a crisis. When Glasnow walked off in the second inning, I was already spiraling. Then the offense put up a crooked number and the big man might be okay? I'll absolutely take that. Could've been a lot worse out of that trip. Devin, it's a .500 road trip. Let's not hand out medals for merely surviving it. Hey, with Glasnow leaving in the second inning? Yeah, .500 is fine. I'm not going to pretend it's anything else. Orange County Register, with Bill Plunkett:
That trio represents the back half of the Dodgers’ six-man rotation. When the front four of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow are all healthy, one of those three young pitchers will have to go – somewhere.
So the Dodgers are about to have too many starting pitchers. I know, a hardship only baseball would call a hardship. Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell, Glasnow — and Sasaki waiting behind that? Come on. That's as loaded a front four as you're going to find. The tough part is somebody gets squeezed — Wrobleski, Sheehan, or Sasaki — and none of them have really done anything to deserve that conversation. Sasaki getting bumped because Blake Snell came back healthy would be the most Dodgers thing ever. And yes, I mean that as a compliment. Noah Camras, writing in Inside The Dodgers:
Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Betts' return to the Dodgers could come as soon as Monday. He says Betts is expected to travel back to Los Angeles on Sunday, and then the organization "will evaluate his status before a potential activation on Monday against the San Francisco Giants."
Mookie Betts is heading to Oklahoma City this weekend for a rehab stint, and if everything goes right, he could be back in a Dodgers uniform as soon as Monday. That's ahead of the six-week window they were aiming for. Monday. Against the Giants. I don't think you could've drawn it up better if you tried. There is still a roster crunch coming, though. Somebody has to make room, and the guys who filled in while Mookie was out didn't exactly play themselves off the roster. I don't care who they move — I want Mookie back. Handle the roster math upstairs. I'm not losing sleep over it. If Dodgers Daily Podcast is part of your routine, consider subscribing wherever you're listening. And if you have a minute, leave a quick review — it really helps other Dodgers fans find the show.
We've put links to every story from today's show in the notes, so if something caught your ear, you can dig in from there. Thanks for spending part of your Friday with us. That's Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.