ARLINGTON, Texas — Tyler Glasnow stood on the back of the mound, rotated his right ankle as if trying to test how it felt, then threw his first pitch of the fifth inning on Sunday afternoon.
In the Dodgers’ 1-0 win against the Texas Rangers, it proved to be the right-hander’s last one of the day.
Though the Dodgers salvaged a series win at Globe Life Field, grinding out the lone run of Sunday’s rubber-match contest on a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly in the eighth, they first had to overcome yet another injury concern from Glasnow, who left the game after just four innings with what the club later said was lower leg cramping.
Early on Sunday, Glasnow had been rolling, stranding four runners over his first three innings before striking out the side in the fourth. During that fourth-inning sequence, however, Glasnow was visited on the mound by head trainer Thomas Albert.
Following a brief conversation, Glasnow stayed in the game and retired the side. But when he returned for the fifth, the 31-year-old still looked bothered; beginning the inning by flexing his leg on the backside of the bump, before showing more discomfort following a first-pitch fastball that clocked only 93.7 mph (one of the slowest he’s thrown all season).
The good news for the Dodgers: Glasnow’s diagnosis suggests nothing serious — though the full severity of the issue wasn’t immediately clear.
Among the many injury problems that have plagued his big-league career, occasional bouts of cramping have been the most benign. Around this time last season, Glasnow also exited a start early in Toronto with cramping in his calf and his hand. He missed no time after that episode, completing a strong first half that earned him his first career All-Star selection.
Still, any physical issue for Glasnow comes with some cause for concern.
The 10th-year big-leaguer has never pitched more than 22 starts or 134 innings in a single season. And he set both of those high marks last year — when a late-season elbow injury still sidelined him for all of the playoffs.
The Dodgers could ill afford to have lost Glasnow to a more serious ailment Sunday.
Already this month, the team put top offseason signing Blake Snell on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. On Saturday, Snell threw his first bullpen session since getting hurt, but he probably remains at least a couple of weeks from returning.
Then, this weekend, top right-handed reliever Blake Treinen went down with a low-grade forearm sprain. Manager Dave Roberts put that diagnosis in the “dodged-a-bullet category,” noting it could have been worse. But it nonetheless leaves Treinen’s timeline to return unclear.
“We’ll get the doctors to look at it and get an assessment,” Roberts said of Treinen’s recovery plan. “I think [he will only need] rest and rehab. But, again, once they get the doctors’ eyes on it, then we’ll have a better prognosis.”
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