There were a lot of firsts in Thursday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, and all of them were good and promising.
Tyler Glasnow had his first outing of the season and is just another starter that looks like they are in mid-season form. He struck out the side first inning and had a ground out and two more K’s in the second inning.
Glasnow started the day with a two-inning/30 pitch limit. Since he finished the second inning with 29 pitches, he came out to start the top of the third where he gave
up a base hit and called it a day.
Most promising was his fastball velocity. Last year, Glasnow’s fastball velocity averaged 95.7mph. In the first inning of Thursday’s game, it was sitting at a 97.1 average. Overall, for his 33 pitches, he averaged 96.7mph.
After his outing, Glasnow remarked that the uptick in velocity is something he had been working on over the offseason and has been very intentional about it. He feels like his mechanics are in a much better place and is feeling fully healthy. All that and the addition of 20 pounds on Glasnow’s long frame having him looking like he’s in a great spot to start the season.
In his first start of the season, Max Muncy grounded out to third in the first inning, followed by line drive base hit in his next at bat. He ended up going 1-3 on the day.
Muncy talked to reporters after the game and commented on why some of the older Dodgers are taking a slower approach in Spring Training. He noted that there was a conversation with several players, and it was “give your body as much rest as possible” mentality going into the season. The Dodgers have had to start back-to-back seasons with trips across the Pacific and have played more postseason games than any other team in the last two seasons. A slow start for the veterans is well deserved.
Blake Treinen also had first outing of spring where he set the White Sox down 1-2-3, with two strikeouts and a groundout using only 15 pitches.
The team finally broke their home run drought, with Will Smith hitting the first home run of Spring Training. He was followed later in the game by Keston Hiura and Hyeseong Kim who went back-to-back with solo homers of their own.
What the Dodgers did not have their first of, however, was a loss. They beat the White Sox 7-6 to remain the only undefeated team in spring. Does this mean anything? Of course not but it makes it a lot more fun.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will have his second outing of the spring on Friday against the San Francisco Giants, before heading out to join Team Japan for the World Baseball Classis.
