The Los Angeles Dodgers got Tyler Glasnow back on Tuesday night after an extended absence due to a back injury.
Glasnow's return came in a very important series against the Atlanta Braves. Even though the Dodgers lost 4-3, Glasnow looked solid. He gave up three runs in the first inning, but retired 12 of the next 14 batters.
"I think just switching up a little bit," Glasnow said when asked how he was able to turn his night around, per MLB.com's Courtney Hollmon. "I think it was pretty fastball-heavy the first inning. A little bit predictable. Not a ton of hard-hit balls, but it's just how it goes sometimes. But I think coming out in the second, I just felt more in rhythm and my slider was working a lot better. ... The slider felt good today, too. So I just tried to start some guys off with it and throw it in middle counts and just not be so predictable."
Glasnow's return is more about just one game. Now that he is back, and Shohei Ohtani is expected back in the next week or two, the Dodgers, for the first time this season, have all six of their preferred starters in the rotation together.
They had Glasnow, Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell and Justin Wrobleski to start the year, but that group was missing a big name: Tarik Skubal. Of course, Skubal was not on the team then, but now he is and is likely going to be their Game 1 starter in the postseason.
Dave Roberts will have some tough decisions to make for the postseason rotation now, but it's a good problem to have. Skubal, Yamamoto and Snell seem like locks to start in October, but the fourth spot could go to Glasnow or Ohtani. Honestly, Sasaki has been phenomenal as of late as well.
The six-man rotation will cut down to four, but the bullpen could be gaining some elite arms. Sasaki could be the fix to the Dodgers' bullpen woes if the Dodgers want to move him there for October.
The point is, Glasnow being healthy gives the Dodgers the pitching staff that every fan base was worried about. It's hard to imagine any team consistently scoring runs off a healthy Dodgers rotation in the postseason.