Glasnow’s back! Here’s all you need to know
This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat e-newsletter. To learn the complete e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it recurrently in your inbox.
ST. PETERSBURG — As they start a rematch of the 2020 World Series towards the Dodgers this weekend, the Rays have the Majors’ finest file, at 37-15. They have reclaimed baseball’s finest run differential, at plus-114. They’ve hit extra dwelling runs and stolen extra bases than some other membership. Their starters’ ERA is the very best in MLB, too.
Oh, and now they’re getting Tyler Glasnow again. Just in time for a marquee matchup towards one of many National League’s finest groups, no much less.
Glasnow is ready to make his season debut Saturday afternoon at Tropicana Field within the second sport of a three-game sequence towards the Dodgers, and he’ll achieve this reverse possible Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. The two aces squared off in Games 1 and 5 of the 2020 World Series, with Kershaw the winner and Glasnow the loser in each video games.
It might be Glasnow’s first look in a Major League sport since he pitched 5 electrical innings to start out Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series in Cleveland final October. He solely pitched 3 times down the stretch final season after working his approach again from Tommy John surgical procedure in 2021, together with his workload restricted in every outing, and he was sidelined early this spring by a left indirect pressure.
“Really excited. It’s been a while, just doing the rehab stuff, going and doing all the Minor League stuff again,” Glasnow stated earlier this week. “Just glad I’m feeling good and ready to go.”
The Rays are thrilled to have him again within the combine. The final time Glasnow was a mainstay in Tampa Bay’s rotation, he was arguably the AL’s most dominant beginning pitcher. In his first 14 begins of the 2021 season, Glasnow posted a 2.66 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 123 strikeouts and 27 walks in 88 innings.
“There’s only one Tyler Glasnow, you know?” Rays starter Zach Eflin stated. “He’s so special with what he can do with the baseball, and I’m really looking forward to seeing that in person, too. Last time I saw it was in the spring, so I’m really excited to see him go about his business and see what he’s like on start day. He’s been a lot of fun to watch over the years, too, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
He’ll be an enormous addition to a rotation that has misplaced key starters Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen however nonetheless has ace Shane McClanahan (8-0, 1.97 ERA), Eflin (7-1, 3.17), high prospect Taj Bradley (34 strikeouts, 4 walks in his first 5 begins) and lefty Josh Fleming (2.72 ERA in his final 9 outings).
“Regardless of the injuries, I think having Tyler Glasnow back — no matter what — is important,” stated McClanahan, who might crew up with Glasnow the following two years to kind the very best one-two punch in baseball. “The guy’s been busting his butt to get back as soon as he can, and we’re excited to see what he can do for us — what we know he can do for us.”
There was just one minor blip throughout Glasnow’s Minor League rehab project: a May 10 outing that he reduce quick after one inning and 11 pitches as a result of he didn’t really feel proper on the mound. But he regarded wholesome and dominant in his final two begins for Triple-A Durham, working 4 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts on May 16 then pitching six sturdy innings on 67 pitches final Sunday.
“I think after that, that four-inning one, I was like, ‘All right, I feel good again,’” Glasnow stated. “I kind of got into, like, that compete mode, not, like, in practice mindset anymore. I’m just going out there, trying to get guys out.”
And how does he really feel about becoming a member of a crew that’s gotten off to such a scorching begin even with out him?
“It’s better to join a team like that than one that’s not in motion and doing bad,” he stated, smiling. “It just makes it less stressful, I guess, for me just to know that we have so many guys that can come in and just start and do well. I’m glad I can come out and help when I can, but it’s good to see everyone playing well even when I’m not there.”
