Dodgers Tyler Glasnow’s breaking pitches have helped him succeed originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow blanked the San Francisco Giants in a masterful performance on Thursday. The former All-Star (2024) threw eight shutout innings, allowing one hit, a walk, and striking out nine.
Glasnow’s impressive performance was due to his curveball/knuckle-curveball being on point. Six of Glasnow’s nine strikeouts came on the curveball.
Los Angeles Dodgers Tyler Glasnow uses two different types of curveballs depending on the situation
“I think early on, trying to throw for strikes, to throw a little slower, like spike it, and then when I want to put a guy away with it, I’ll just keep both fingers on it, just try to throw it hard,” Glasnow said postgame to SportsNet LA. “But I think that got a little better as the game went on, as a little inconsistent, but I had good feel with it overall.”
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Out of 84 knuckle-curveballs Glasnow has thrown, hitters are batting .160 with a .360 slugging percentage and have struck out 10 times against it. On his normal curveball (31 pitches), hitters have not gotten a hit and struck out seven times.
Glasnow’s usage rate of his breaking pitch has shifted dramatically from last season to this season. In 2025, Glasnow used his breaking ball 22% of the time, while he’s upped it to 30% this season. Using his curveballs as much as his four-seam fastball (37%) seems to be an effective mix for Glasnow.
Overall, Glasnow is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA and has struck out 33 in 33.0 innings. This hot start by Glasnow and the effective use of his curveball/knuckle-curveball could have him pitching in the Mid Summer Classic this summer.
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