Tyler Glasnow looking to combine athleticism and ability in L.A. - ESPN

DODGERS PITCHER Tyler Glasnow, who stands 6-foot-8, 225 pounds, can do a standing backflip.

«It's no big deal, really,» he said. (Yes, it is. There aren't many people that big and tall who can do a backflip.)

«Oh, I'm sure there are a lot of people bigger than me that can,» he said. (No, there aren't.)

Glasnow, 30, is a new member of the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade in December and immediately signed to a five-year, $136 million extension. His stuff is as overpowering and violent as anyone's in the game, in part because of his remarkable athleticism: a breathtaking combination of size, speed, strength, agility, mobility and balance, all of which has drawn comparisons to Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps — and a giraffe.

«He is the most physically gifted athlete I have ever seen in my life,» said Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, an ex-teammate. «He is more flexible than anyone I've ever seen. His movements are cleaner than anyone I've ever seen. He is unbelievable. I don't think there is athletic activity that he can't do.»

Besides a backflip, Glasnow can walk on his hands. He won a silver medal in the Junior Olympics in the high jump. He was an excellent basketball player («I'm tall,» he said). He loved roller hockey and was a wizard on a skateboard. He ran track, did the shot put and played football for one year in high school. He lifted a huge amount of weight, and says, «if I'm on the side of a squat rack, I can go parallel to the ground, but I don't know if that is unusual.»

It is.

«We call that a flagpole,» said Dodgers pitcher J.P. Feyereisen. «He was doing that in the weight room today. I'm not sure how many guys could do that. He's 6-8, and he can do it.»

Yet with this