Tyler Glasnow has 8 strikeouts in 3rd rehab start

Tyler Glasnow made his third minor league rehab start on Friday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and this was his best yet. Glasnow struck out eight batters in 3 2/3 innings against the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Colorado Rockies affiliate.

Glasnow only allowed three balls in play among his 13 batters faced, and didn’t allow a ball hit into the outfield until a harmless flyout in the fourth inning. He walked two and ran a few other deep counts, getting him pulled at 67 pitches, one out shy of the planned four innings.

Isotopes hitters had trouble with Glasnow’s secondary pitches. He threw his slider, knuckle curve, and curveball a total of 23 times, and induced seven of his 11 total swinging strikes on those pitches.

Despite the relatively short outing, Glasnow tied an Oklahoma City season high with eight strikeouts, last done by Emmet Sheehan on Wednesday.

This was the third rehab start for Glasnow, who has been out since May 8 with back spasms. The right-hander pitched two scoreless innings on August 4 with Class-A Ontario, then went 2 2/3 innings last Sunday with Oklahoma City. Thus far Glasnow has allowed only a run on two hits and three walks, with three strikeouts.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday at Dodger Stadium that Glasnow is expected to make one more minor league rehab start after this one, during which he will stretch out to roughly five innings and 75 pitches, before potentially returning to the Dodgers.

Much like when activating Blake Snell earlier this week, the Dodgers will need a corresponding move to make room on the 40-man roster, because Glasnow is on the 60-day injured list. But that return looks much more tangible now than it did two weeks ago.