The Los Angeles Dodgers have an abundance of riches in their pitching staff, with multiple pitchers capable of being front-line starters for any team in MLB.
Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto steal all of the headlines naturally, with Ohtani being a top 10 pitcher and hitter in the National League, while Yamamoto has cemented his status as a true workhorse after his 2025 World Series MVP run.
Considering how special both Yamamoto and Ohtani are and their international star power, it’s easy for the rest of the pitching staff to go under the radar.
But there’s another pitcher behind those stars who has a chance to win baseball’s highest honor for a hurler.
Dodgers Have an Embarrasment of Riches at Pitcher
Ranking third in terms of profile is arguably Blake Snell, who has won two Cy Young awards himself, something both Yamamoto and Ohtani are chasing.
Apr 4, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow (31) throws to the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images
Also, his stuff is nasty, and as a southpaw, he stands out among all of the right-handed quality pitchers.
He signed a massive five-year, $136 million deal in free agency, and while he is entering his mid-30s, Snell remains an elite starting pitcher, as evidenced by his 2025 postseason performance.
Roki Sasaki, who has achieved little success as a starter, remains the biggest mystery and possible x-factor for the Dodgers.
The organization is intent on his realizing his potential as a starter, which has led to his being regarded as one of the best prospects to ever come out of Japan, even though he was brilliant as a reliever in the 2025 postseason.
Apart from Sasaki, there are a ton of promising young arms who profile as possible starters who serve as swingmen for the most part.
Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Justin Wrobleski, Gavin Stone, Jackson Ferris — just to name a few — are all hurlers who give the Dodgers great depth.
However, hidden like a needle in the haystack is Tyler Glasnow, who profiles as the prototype for an ace, but he has been prone to missing extended time on the injured list, which has led to him going under the radar.
With Glasnow looking healthier than he has ever been and a strong start to the season, he is a dark horse candidate to usurp Yamamoto and Ohtani among the other NL Cy Young contenders, and take home an award many pegged him to get as a prospect.
A Clean Bill of Health (Hopefully)
Tyler Glasnow has a long history of injuries throughout his 10-year MLB career.
He has failed to throw more than 134 innings in a season, something that has taken him out of the running for conversations about the best pitchers in baseball.
Glasnow throws right-handed at 6 feet, 8 inches, with a long frame that has led to injuries. He has battled ankle issues, forearm strains, Tommy John surgery on his elbow, an oblique strain, and right shoulder inflammation.
His shoulder issues kept him out for months in 2025, with him getting healthy down the stretch for a key rotation role.
Back in spring training, Glasnow made it clear that he is aiming to stay healthy this season.
“My biggest goal is to just stay healthy, log innings and not be put on the IL for an extended amount of time,” Glasnow said.
“I don’t think [spring training] feels any different, just trying to solid everything mechanically and recovery-wise and just trying to stay healthy and log a lot of innings.”
Manager Dave Roberts is hoping to lean on Glasnow in 2026 as well, with his workload looking to be normal for a starting pitcher, perhaps for the first time in his career.
“If I had to look at guys that I feel really good about right now, to kind of have a normal workload, Tyler and Roki would be at the top with Yamamoto,” Roberts said.
Even if Glasnow ends up having an injury-riddled career, he is bound to have a handful of healthy years. Blake Snell, his teammate, has a similar label, but even he managed to put together a couple of full seasons.
The Stuff Looks Better Than Ever
At the time of writing, before Glasnow makes his third start, Glasnow has pitched six innings in each of his two starts.
He has allowed four hits in each outing, along with two earned runs. His first start, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, saw him get six punchouts with another nine coming against the Washington Nationals.
His Stuff+ is only 104, not nearly his career high of 124, but the sample size remains small for his stuff. His average fastball velocity is up a tick from his 2026 season, at an even 96 mph, up from 95.7 mph in 2025.
Considering it is still early in the season and Glasnow does not need to push it too hard with hitters still getting into the groove, Glasnow should have another gear to reach if needed.
His expected numbers are all extremely promising, with a 2.15 expected ERA and a 1.43 FIP, highlighting that he is still getting some bad luck in terms offielding.
He is not allowing hard hits — 83rd percentile hard hit rate — and his strikeout rate is 84th percentile, using his command to paint around the margins.
Glasnow’s Location+ is 111, making his Pitching+ 117, very well above average. The only alarming numbers for Glasnow are the 25th-percentile chase rate and the 51st-percentile whiff r ate.
His pitching run value is 88th percentile, and if he does deploy more of his remaining juice as a pitcher, Glasnow will be able to put up the metrics for a Cy Young case.
A True Window of Opportunity
The Dodgers are set to win a ton of games, likely lead MLB in wins, which will entice voters to reward the team’s players with awards if they truly have a special season.
Glasnow would be right in line for a Cy Young, at least getting votes if he stays healthy. The race could be truly open in the National League.
Early on in the season, Sandy Alcantara is looking like his former ace self, while Crisopher Sanchez, Logan Webb, and Paul Skenes will always be in the running.
However, Skenes and Webb have not been at their best to start the year, leaving a chance for Glasnow to keep his hot start going and build a good deal of momentum.
On the Dodgers, Yamamoto is the biggest threat to Glasnow, who is known for stockpiling quality innings. Ohtani, even if his production and metrics look great, will have a small margin of error due to the number of innings he can pitch.
At the age of 32, Glasnow has the best run of his career to capture the highest award for a pitcher. It will be up to him to stay healthy and pitch his best, which many have long believed is good enough for the award.
LA Baseball Report
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