GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — It’s starting to set in with Tyler Glasnow. He looks around the clubhouse and sees LA everywhere, and there’s Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. And yes, Shohei Ohtani, too.
Glasnow is getting used to the idea that he is a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s cool. It’s very surreal,” the Southern California native said Tuesday. “I think it’s still not even fully kicked in. I think, as time goes on, I’ll be able to be like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ … Just being in the clubhouse and meeting everyone and seeing LA on all the uniforms is an awesome feeling.”
Glasnow was acquired in a December trade with Tampa Bay that was overshadowed by the rest of Los Angeles’ active offseason. Ohtani agreed to a $700 million, 10-year contract, and the Dodgers also signed right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a $325 million, 12-year deal.
The 30-year-old Glasnow received a $136.5 million, five-year contract as part of the trade that brought him back to Southern California. While Ohtani and Yamamoto will be closely watched in their transition to their new club, the Dodgers also are counting on Glasnow to help anchor their rotation.
“He’s very physical,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a big guy. You know, in watching him throw, there’s a lot of thoughtfulness in every throw. He’s a feel guy. He’s a cerebral guy. He thinks through things, which I like. And then when he makes his throw, there’s a lot of conviction and his ball has a lot of carry in the strike zone.”
Glasnow was selected by Pittsburgh in the fifth round of the 2011 amateur draft and broke into the majors with the Pirates in 2016. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was traded to Tampa Bay in a multiplayer deadline deal in 2018 for Chris Archer.
