With the 21st pick of the fifth round of the 2011 draft, the Boston Red Sox selected a high school shortstop named Mookie Betts. The kid, as it turns out, plays a pretty mean shortstop.
With the first pick of the fifth round of the 2011 draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected a Hart High pitcher named Tyler Glasnow.
Fourteen years later, with Betts playing behind him, Glasnow on Thursday gets the chance to pitch his hometown Dodgers into the National League Championship Series.
“It would be awesome,” Glasnow said. “Growing up, loving the team, being able to pitch for them now?
“It would be everything.”
For Glasnow, yes, but also for the Dodgers.
It would eliminate the possibility of the Dodgers playing for their lives on Saturday, amid the deafening decibels of Citizens Bank Park.
And it would vindicate the Dodgers’ strategy of all but mothballing an elite starting pitcher for almost three weeks and then handing him the ball and asking him to win them the division series.
Glasnow last made a normal start 19 days ago.
Read more: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodgers quickly lose control in NLDS Game 3 loss to Phillies
He has pitched twice since then: an intentionally abbreviated three-inning start 12 days ago, and a relief appearance five days ago, in Game 1 of this division series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I think he’s full go,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It was nice to get him in there in Philly, but as far as kind of his buildup, I think it’s just a normal start.”
In fairness to the Dodgers, they had no idea this would finally be the year they would have a full house of healthy and effective starters at the end of the season, instead of at the beginning.
They opted for Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani as their top three starters. The wild-card round only lasted two games, and Glasnow is starting Game 4 of the division series.
That meant juggling the rotation so the top three would be ready for the wild-card round, and giving Glasnow an outing in relief to keep him sharp.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow delivers during Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies on Saturday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“He’s been starting the whole season,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said. “I don’t think a lot changes. He threw out of the bullpen, and I think that was the big challenge for him.
“He’s back to schedule, back to doing what he does. Looking forward to it.”
It is not entirely fair to judge a player by his salary, but that is what you sign up for when you play for the Dodgers, who traded for Glasnow two winters ago and then awarded him a contract for $136.5 million. He made the All-Star team last season, but tendinitis in his pitching elbow kept him from pitching in the playoffs.
It also is not entirely fair to judge a player by his postseason results, but that too is what you sign up for when you play for the Dodgers.
In 10 postseason starts — all for the Tampa Bay Rays — Glasnow is 2-6 with a 5.72 earned-run average.
In his lone appearance against the Phillies this season, Glasnow pitched two-plus innings, walking five and giving up five runs.
Read more: Plaschke: Dodgers blow surefire win in NLDS Game 3 vs. Phillies, and now they could blow the season
The opposing pitcher that day is the opposing pitcher Thursday: Cristopher Sánchez, with the Dodgers one win from a berth in the NLCS.
The Dodgers invited Steve Garvey to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday, and after that to deliver the ritual words that precede every home game.
Garvey inserted a word into Vin Scully’s trademark phrase.
“It’s time for Dodger championship baseball,” Garvey said.
On Thursday, Glasnow can make sure it’s time for Dodger championship series baseball.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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