ATLANTA — Tyler Glasnow has a sprained right elbow and is “highly unlikely” to pitch this season, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. It’s a major setback for a high-salary team hoping for a World Series berth but with serious concerns about its playoff rotation.

Glasnow, 31, had been out since Aug. 11 with what the team described as elbow tendonitis and appeared to be close to a return before suffering another setback that effectively ended his season. The right-handed pitcher was warming up for a two- to three-inning simulated game at Truist Park early Friday afternoon that was expected to be his final outing before returning to the Dodgers’ rotation, but had to sit it out with elbow discomfort as he approached his 25th pitch from the bullpen.

The Dodgers can only be confident at this point that newcomer Jack Flaherty will start their first postseason game. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who missed nearly three months with a shoulder injury but made an encouraging comeback last week, seems like a solid bet to follow him. But beyond that, the Dodgers’ rotation outlook is extremely uncertain.

“It’s a big blow,” Roberts said of Glasnow’s injury. “When you look at what he meant to our club, what he did for us, what we expected of him — it’s definitely going to come at a cost. But we’ve got to move on and we will. We’ve got a lot of capable people. I feel bad for Tyler because he did everything he could to stay healthy and come back, and it just wasn’t going to happen.”

The Dodgers acquired Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays during the offseason, giving up two promising young players: starter Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny DeLuca. They subsequently extended Glasnow’s contract for five years, worth $136.6 million.

Glasnow went on to post a 3.49 ERA in his first 134 innings, striking out 168 batters and walking 35 — often looking like an ace. But his arm held out for just over four months.

Roberts said Glasnow will be out of action indefinitely. The concern is that he may have sustained further damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, which he had repaired in August 2021 via Tommy John surgery. Roberts said Glasnow’s UCL is intact, though a diagnosis of a sprained elbow typically means the ligament has sustained at least some damage.

It’s just a new development in a team that already has too many injuries.

Clayton Kershaw, struggling with a bone spur in his left big toe, has been throwing from a makeshift mound, but there is still no definitive timetable for his return. Gavin Stone, meanwhile, is battling shoulder inflammation and has yet to resume his throwing program. The other two top options in the rotation, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller, have struggled.

Despite this, Roberts tried to strike a positive tone.

“It’s manageable,” he said of the pitchers’ injuries. “We’re doing it. I think the biggest thing is we just have to keep focusing on the players that are available and winning a baseball game that night. That’s what the guys have done, and we’ve put ourselves in a good position given everything we’ve been through this year. We still have a pretty good baseball team.”