Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow takes aim at Nationals

It's hard for a pitcher to be any better than Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow was in his most recent start last Tuesday at Minnesota.

Since pitch count was tracked officially for the first time in 1988, Glasnow became the first pitcher to strike out 14 hitters while using less than 90 pitches. He threw 88 and matched his career high in strikeouts during seven shutout innings in a 6-3 win.

Glasnow (3-0, 2.25 ERA) will try for an encore Monday night in Los Angeles as he opens his team's three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

"When I got out to the game," he said of Tuesday night's outing, "I wasn't thinking about it. The direction stayed the same, and I felt the tunneling was a lot better. How my ball usually moves was how it typically is when it feels right."

Some were surprised when Glasnow didn't come out for the eighth inning, given his low pitch count, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted for a big-picture look.

Knowing that Glasnow has never pitched more than 120 innings in a big league season and that he has a detailed injury history, the choice to go to the bullpen was easy for Roberts.

"He's a big, big part of what we're trying to do," the manager said. "So to think about one more inning -- there's not a whole lot of upside for me."

Glasnow will make his seventh career appearance, four of them starts, against Washington on Monday. He's 2-0 with a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 innings, allowing 36 baserunners and striking out 27.

While Glasnow is a proven commodity, the Nationals will send out a rookie to make his MLB debut. Left-hander Mitchell Parker, the No. 21 prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline, was called up Sunday from Triple-A Rochester.

Parker made one start for the Red Wings, allowing an unearned run in four innings. He went 9-7 with a 4.72 ERA last year, shuttling between Double-A and Triple-A, and was in the team's major league camp during spring training.

"Everybody thinks about what it will be your first time out there," Parker said. "Hopefully, this exceeds everything that we were dreaming about. It should be fun."

Washington manager Dave Martinez, who is using Parker to fill the spot of injured Josiah Gray in the rotation, likes Parker's pitch mix.

"The way he attacked the strike zone, it just seemed like nothing really rattled him," Martinez said. "He was very composed. He's going to go out there and hopefully keep us in the game."

While Martinez is optimistic that Parker can make a successful debut against a loaded Los Angeles lineup, the news isn't quite as good concerning catcher Keibert Ruiz. He's been out since Monday with what has been described as flu-like bug, and it's not known when he'll return.

It's Jackie Robinson Day in MLB on Monday, so all uniformed personnel on both teams will wear No. 42 in his honor. The Dodgers have won the last three years on this day.