Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training Half-Time Report Card

Tyler Glasnow

We all know Tyler Glasnow had a breakthrough, breakout, achy-breaky heart-type season in 2019. In his 12 starts of 2019, he slapped down a 1.78 ERA while striking out 76 batters in 60.2 innings. He was elite. One breakthrough he had last season was taking significant strikes in his command. Prior to 2019, he commanded his electric stuff like Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back.

Remember? There’s no doubt Luke was powerful. I mean the Force was always with him, that’s how he was able to destroy the Death Star without a targeting computer. And you know the rebellion had some awesome catering…Google “Jek Tono.”

That high-quality and unlimited catering didn’t bother Luke…Where was I? Oh, Luke had serious power with the force and self-control. You could say he had naturally electric stuff, but not great command. He struggled to hold little pebbles in the air in Empire Strikes Back while Yoda was lifting an X-Wing like Braun Strowman.

Like Luke, Glasnow gained control of his power last season. In 2016 he walked five batters per nine. In 2017, he walked 6.4 per nine. In 2018 he walked 4.3 batters per nine. Last season, that number plummeted to 2.1 free passes per nine innings.

This spring he has pitched in 2.2 innings and walked only one batter while striking out five. His curveball is disgusting and his fastball is almost invisible. In his two starts, he has been credited with two wins this spring.

While last season gave us reason to believe Glasnow could be the next Rays pitcher to find himself in the midst of a Cy Young race, it was a small sample size. His spring performance is building the hype train for 2020. All aboard for Tyler Glasnow in 2020.

Nick Anderson

When the Rays traded away Emilio Pagan they traded their team leader in saves from last season. Are they really placing the responsibility on a guy who is entering his coming off of his rookie year? Well, it’s the Rays and they may scoff at the idea of having a traditional closer, but Anderson is likely to consume a massive role out of the bullpen. For you fantasy players, it will likely involve a good portion of the Rays save opportunities.

Anderson turned 29 in July of last season and after a strong showing with the Marlins, the Rays front office decided that they must have the strikeout artist. They cursed a prospect and traded him away with Ryne Stanek, the team’s opener. In return, they received Trevor Richards and a Mr. Anderson.

The Marlins probably thought they were selling high on the rookie but after he put the Rays uniform on he posted a 2.11 ERA and walked two total batters in his time in Tampa. While he struck out 14.2 batters per nine with the Marlins, he stepped that up with the Rays and struck out 17.3 batters per nine innings.

By season’s end, it appeared Anderson was on the brink of becoming the next Josh Hader.

This spring he has pitched in two innings and allowed zero hits, no earned runs, and one walk. While the Rays bullpen is stacked with other dominant pitchers, Anderson appears to be on the brink of stardom. So far this spring, he hasn’t disappointed.

Round Up

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo has looked good in his 17 plate appearances. He has hit .357/.471/.643 in his first sample of Major League-Esque pitching.

The backup catcher battle has produced solid results with Chris Herrmann hitting .500 with 4 runs batted in, Kevan Smith is hitting .333 with 4 RBI and 5 runs. The presumptive favorite for the job, Michael Perez is only hitting .167 but he’s walked three times and leads the team in homers with two.

Dylan Cozens was a prolific Minor League home run hitter and so the Rays gave him a shot but he’s struck out nine times in 15 at-bats with a .133 average this spring.

Wander Franco made his spring debut. He’s only had five at-bats and has one hit. His one hit looked good when he took a pitch away to the opposite field with a short, smooth stroke.

Brandon Lowe is off to a hot start in building off his All-Star rookie campaign, hitting .462 with three walks.

A lot of pitchers have looked good thus far, Diego Castillo has six strikeouts in four innings with no earned runs allowed. Pete Fairbanks has four innings, seven strikeouts, and zero earned runs.

On a sour note, Blake Snell pitched one inning and then suffered inflammation in his elbow. It appears to be superficial and away from the tendon, so hopefully, it’s not a long setback for the former Cy Young Award winner. As of now, he is projected to pitch a bullpen session this Friday.