Tampa Bay Rays 2020 Player Profile: Tyler Glasnow

Tampa Bay Rays 2020 player profile on future house-hold name of a starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow

Tampa Bay Rays’ stud starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow was on pace for a 7.6 WAR (200 innings) season before injuries struck. What does he have in store for 2020?

Tyler Glasnow
Position: SP
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6-8
Weight: 230 lbs
Birthdate: 08/23/1993
Birthplace: Newhall, CA
Acquired via trade. Tampa Bay Rays received Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, and Shane Baz. The Pittsburgh Pirates received Chris Archer.
2019 Salary: $566,700
2020 Salary: $2,050,000

2019 Stats
WAR: 2.6
Wins: 6
Losses: 1
Winning %: .857
ERA: 1.78
Games: 12
Innings Pitched: 60.2
Strikeouts: 76
Earned Runs: 12
ERA+: 250
FIP: 2.26
WHIP: 0.89
HR/9: 0.6
BB/9:  2.1

Splits
VS LHB: .155/.202/216
VS RHP .212/.262/.322

Fun Facts

• Despite only starting 12 games last season, Glasnow was impressive enough that he is ranked ahead of guys like Corey Kluber and Yu Darvish in fantasy rankings.
• His FIP indicates some regression might be in order on the ERA, but not much. Last season his FIP was a mere 2.26. He gave up an incredible 0.6 HRs per nine innings.
• His 2.08 walks per nine was the lowest of any of his professional seasons… at any level.
• Here is a great piece at Fangraphs about the incredible spin-rate on Glasnow’s curveball that bumped his the swing and miss rate from 35% to 55% last season.

2020 Steamer Projections

3.70 ERA
163.0 IP
202 Ks
66 BBs
29 Starts

Glasnow has never exceeded 111.2 innings at the Major League level, but he is still early in his career. He has some of the filthiest “stuff” in baseball.

His four-seamer can reach 100mph, which makes his 90 mph changeup look ridiculously hard to hit coming out of his hand. It looks like a fastball, it is as fast as a lot of fastballs, and yet… it’s not a fastball!

Glasnow hit the injured list in May of last year and didn’t return to action until September. Upon his return, he had removed the changeup from his arsenal and strictly stuck with his blazing fastball and discombobulating curve.

Of all starting pitchers who pitched at least 60 innings in 2019, Glasnow had had the following ranks:

• 12th in K/9
• 1st in HR/9
• 1st in HR/FB%
• 1st in ERA
• 1st in FIP

His 2.3 WAR over 60.2 innings averages out to a 7.6 WAR over 200 innings. That would have been good for number one in the league, 0.2 points better than Gerrit Cole.

If he maintains the same abilities he showed in 2019, he could be one of three pitchers vying for the AL Cy Young on your Tampa Bay Rays.

What do you expect from Tyler Glasnow in 2020?