On Wednesday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow of Newhall, California made his first start since June 14, 2021. He had missed over 15 months of action because of Tommy John Surgery. It had been expected that Glasnow would miss the entire 2022 Major League Baseball season, but he was able to make his 2022 debut with one week remaining in the regular season, and with the Rays on the verge of playing in the 2022 Major League Baseball postseason.
Start against the Guardians
On Wednesday, Glasnow only had 50 pitches. However, 32 were for strikes. In three innings of work, he gave up one earned run (a home run to Guardians third baseman Gabriel Arias of La Victoria, Venezuela). It happened to be the first home run in Arias’s Major League Baseball career. Arias is one of the Guardians’s 16 rookies on the roster, a Major League Baseball record for a division-winning team. Glasnow also had three strikeouts, and gave up two hits and one walk.
The Rays used eight pitchers in the contest. That is very common for the franchise as they were the first team to regularly use the opener. At the end of the evening, the Rays lost 2-1 to the Guardians in 10 innings. The game was delayed by one hour and three minutes due to rain.
Could have a postseason impact
Glasnow could genuinely have an impact in 2022, if he returns to the form he exemplified in 2019. That year he posted a record of six wins and one loss with an earned run average of 1.78. He only gave up 12 earned runs in 60 2/3 innings of work, and had a fantastic WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.89. Then in 2021, Glasnow posted a record of 5-2 with an earned run average of 2.66. Even in 2020, when Glasnow had an earned run average of 4.08, he still found a way to win five of his six decisions.
Rays could clinch a playoff spot tonight
Tampa Bay could be postseason bound as early as Thursday evening. That is if they beat the Cleveland Guardians. Earlier on Thursday, the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3. That meant the Toronto Blue Jays clinched one of the three wildcard spots in the American League.
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