Tyler Glasnow's reason for shoulder issue was painful reminder of other injuries

It was disappointing but unfortunately not entirely surprising when Tyler Glasnow was pulled out of his start on Sunday after throwing just 17 pitches against the Pirates. It was his second consecutive start having to depart early; he pitched just four innings against the Rangers last week before exiting with leg cramps.

Although Glasnow admitted that the issue was recurring, leg cramping isn't insurmountable an issue as, say, a shoulder injury, like the one Blake Snell is currently dealing with and has no timeline to return from.

But the Dodgers were quick to confirm the worst after Glasnow's second early exit — right shoulder discomfort was to blame.

Dodgers fans know all about Glasnow's injury history. He pitched more than 120 innings for the first time in his career last season, but only got just over 130 before being sidelined with a sprained elbow. There's always been the lingering fear that he just may never be able to stay healthy enough to be successful for truly sustained periods of time.

After the game, a 9-2 victory thanks to rookie Ben Casparius and former Yankee Yoendrys Gómez, who pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings collectively, Glasnow said that he "felt something grab during warm-ups," and alluded that shoulder issues could have something to do with how he's adapted his mechanics to prevent elbow issues.

Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow talks shoulder injury that forced him to leave game

Glasnow has had a couple of major bouts of ugly elbow problems — once in 2021, when he had to undergo Tommy John that kept him out until September 2022 and then, of course, last season, with the sprained elbow.

But if Glasnow is adjusting to put less strain on his elbow and is still running into shoulder problems, then maybe he'll just never be able to set himself straight.

The Dodgers' rotation was already in a tenuous place to begin with given Snell's absence. Their bullpen became the first in baseball to pitch 100 innings during their most recent series against the Cubs, and they just picked up eight more on Sunday night. Although Tony Gonsolin is expected to return soon, if Glasnow ends up on the IL with Snell, then the Dodgers are right back where they started.

Glasnow added, "It's just kind of getting exhausting at this point." And "exhausting" might be understating things.