ST. PETERSBURG — If the Rays are going to make another deep run through October, they’ll likely have to do so without ace Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow will meet on Tuesday with Dr. Keith Meister, and he is expecting that Tommy John surgery will be recommended to address the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and flexor strain in his throwing arm. Glasnow said there is an “off chance” that a different method of treatment is recommended, but the 27-year-old right-hander sounded resigned to the idea that he will miss the rest of this year and likely all of the 2022 season as well.
“It’s been something that’s been bothering me for quite a while, and those last two starts or so, it kind of just put it over the edge,” Glasnow said Saturday during a conference call with local reporters. “It started to feel better when I was home, then as I started to stretch it out again, it was like, ‘It’s time to get this done.’”
Glasnow was initially optimistic about returning in time for another postseason run with the Rays, thinking he could manage the pain enough to at least be competitive in games later this season. But he acknowledged that Saturday’s news makes that possibility remote. He said there is a “possibility” he’ll recover in time to return to the mound at the end of the 2022 season, but it’s more likely he will return in ’23 — his final season before reaching free agency.
“I think it was something I knew I was going to probably get eventually. It was to the point where [I thought], ‘Can I withstand the pain of trying to come back and throw this postseason and maybe get it done at the end of season?’” Glasnow said. “But with the feeling that I felt yesterday on the mound, I was like, ‘Yeah, there’s no way I can confidently go out there and pitch with this type of pain.’
“I tried. I’m glad I exercised all the options, but it’s just something that probably has to be done. I’m really, honestly excited to finally pitch on a mound pain-free, and that hasn’t really been the case for a while. So I think what I’ve been able to do while feeling this pain, I’m just excited to see what it’s going to be like to pitch pain-free and how much better I’ll be able to pitch.”
Glasnow was in Texas on Friday for a follow-up visit with doctors and a scheduled throwing session at TMI Sports Medicine in Arlington. After throwing off the mound for the first time since going on the injured list, Glasnow knew he couldn’t realistically continue to pitch with that level of discomfort.
“I wouldn’t say [it was] crazy painful throwing. I definitely felt it every time I was throwing building up to this, and I kind of was deciding if I wanted to go out and pitch with some pain but just be able to go out and compete,” Glasnow said. “Yesterday, throwing off the mound for the first time, I think adding on the slope, it was just that feeling of, ‘I don’t know if I can go out with a lot of confidence with that feeling I felt.’
“It was something I considered, and I tried to build up. Just yesterday, especially throwing off the mound and kind of feeling that pain, it was very apparent that it was probably time to get it done.”
Glasnow is set to reach free agency following the 2023 season. The 6-foot-8 right-hander ranked among the most overpowering pitchers in baseball before he partially tore his UCL and suffered a strain of his flexor tendon in his pitching arm in mid-June, having posted a 2.66 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 88 innings to begin this season.
The Rays have handled his absence well enough, trusting young arms like Shane McClanahan, Josh Fleming and Luis Patiño alongside starters Ryan Yarbrough and Michael Wacha. They did not address their rotation prior to Friday’s Trade Deadline, but this news coming a day earlier likely wouldn’t have changed that, as they entered the trading season with the idea that anything Glasnow provided the rest of this year would be a bonus.
The Rays expect Chris Archer to rejoin their rotation at some point within the next few weeks, and top prospect Shane Baz could make his debut after returning from the Olympics later this season. And they will continue to lean heavily on their bullpen, which has posted an American League-best 3.08 ERA this season.