Tyler Glasnow had a promising start during the Dodgers’ loss to the Giants

Of the many variables that can influence the Dodger‘ World Series chances the rest of the year, one factor will be more important than all others.

The Dodgers need Tyler Glasnow to stay healthy, pitch well and — regardless of what they do before next Tuesday’s trade deadline — serve as an ace at the top of their rotation.

To that end, Wednesday was an encouraging sign.

After his first injury scare of the season, a two-week stint on the injured list because of back tightness, Glasnow made a much-needed return to the Dodgers’ rotation on Wednesday night, giving up two runs in five innings during the Dodgers’ 8th inning. -3 loss against the San Francisco Giants.

Glasnow was far from perfect in his first IL start. His command sometimes eluded him, leading to four walks. He left with a deficit after giving up two runs in the fourth inning, including a solo home run to Matt Chapman. And if it weren’t for some timely double plays, his overall stat line might have looked a lot different.

The Dodgers still lost, having their five-game winning streak snapped on a night in which they failed to record a hit until the seventh inning (they got a run on a bases-loaded walk in the first) and lost Chris Taylor (who was knocked with his seventh-inning double) due to an apparent lower-body injury while he was running the bases — further underscoring the need to bolster the lineup before next Tuesday’s deadline.

The game was close until the eighth inning, when the Giants exploded for six runs against relievers Yohan Ramírez and Joe Kelly to eliminate most of the crowd of 54,070 at Dodger Stadium, the largest of the season.

Still, just having Glasnow – the Dodgers’ hard-throwing, high-profile acquisition last offseason — back on the mound was a welcome sight for a pitching staff that had no reliable options for October at the time.

See more information: Tyler Glasnow is expected to return to the Dodgers, but how will they manage his workload?

Consider the state of the rest of the Dodgers pitching staff:

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is probably a month or more away from returning from a shoulder injury. Gavin Stone is having a strong rookie season but has never played in the playoffs before. And while the Dodgers are looking for an “impact” arm next week, as general manager Brandon Gomes said this week, this year’s deadline market has few key options that will be easy (or cheap) to add.

This means, in all likelihood, that Glasnow remains the team’s best hope of being a legitimate frontcourt starter when the postseason rolls around.

And until then, the team’s biggest priority will be keeping him healthy and pitching well — a tight needle for a pitcher who is now just six innings away from last year’s career-high 120 total.

When Glasnow went on the injured list before the All-Star break, it sparked familiar concerns about his long injury history — which limited him to just one 20-game season (which happened last year) and just one extended season in October , when he helped the Tampa Bay Rays reach the World Series in 2020.

See more information: Plaschke: Tyler Glasnow and the Dodgers rotation are a summer mess that needs help

Ultimately, his back injury was exactly as the Dodgers had hoped: a minor ailment that, given concerns about his workload, also served as a beneficial mid-season break, giving him a few weeks off that should help keep your total entries under control.

Despite this, the Dodgers are still wary of Glasnow’s usage. Manager Dave Roberts said he will look for opportunities to “save” an inning every now and then in Glasnow’s games. Another break at some point in the final two months of the season is also not out of the question.

The trick will be to keep Glasnow in shape without overloading his workload.

As Wednesday showed, he remains the Dodgers’ most talented pitcher. But even after a brief two-week absence, there was still some rust that needed to be knocked off.

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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.