PHOENIX -- Right-hander Tyler Glasnow took another step toward his return to the Dodgers' rotation, joining Triple-A Oklahoma City to make his second rehab start on Sunday night.
After posting a 2.72 ERA through his first seven starts, Glasnow has been sidelined for much longer than expected since lower back spasms landed him on the injured list in May. His back flared up on him in early attempts to ramp up, but slow-playing his throwing program allowed him to make linear progress without further setbacks. Now that he's on a rehab assignment, he is lined up to be back with the Dodgers before the end of August.
Here's everything to know about Glasnow's latest rehab start:
How did he perform?
Glasnow threw 2 2/3 innings against the Salt Lake Bees, the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. He allowed one run on a hit and a walk while striking out two. He threw 26 of his 47 pitches for strikes in what was planned from the start to be a shorter outing: Glasnow’s benchmark for Sunday was three innings and/or 45 pitches.
The lone run against Glasnow came in the first inning on a wild pitch. He worked around a two-out walk and a stolen base in the second and ended his day with a strikeout.
Glasnow averaged 95.9 mph on his fastball, 0.6 mph above his average in MLB this season, and reached 97.7 mph on the radar gun.
What's next?
Glasnow will make at least one more rehab start, likely next Saturday, with the aim of stretching out to the range of four innings and 60 pitches. After that, manager Dave Roberts said, there will be a conversation about activating him. The Dodgers typically prefer to build up their rehabbing starting pitchers to around five innings and 75 pitches, but they could have Glasnow check that final box in the big leagues if they feel that it makes sense.
What else?
The Dodgers' rotation is growing closer to full strength. Blake Snell is due to be activated from the 60-day IL on Tuesday. Glasnow should follow in the next couple of weeks. Shohei Ohtani is also making progress after starting a throwing program on Saturday at Chase Field, although there remains no set timeline for his return to pitching.