Tyler Glasnow injury: Rays starter expected to miss season-opener

The Tampa Bay Rays got some bad news on Tuesday: Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow is expected to start the season on the injured list, just another bump in the road of his recovery. He left the mound with a trainer on Monday during a bullpen session with an oblique injury, per MLB.com.

The team reports Glasnow suffered a Grade-2 sprain and will miss 6-8 weeks, per Bally Sports Florida's Ryan Bass.

Earlier Tuesday, manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times that Glasnow would almost certainly miss the start of the regular season.

I would book that right now. … I talked to him this morning -- typical soreness, bothers him to sneeze, cough, whatever.

The 29-year-old right-hander made just two regular-season starts in 2022 and one playoff appearance after underdoing Tommy John Surgery in August 2021. He pitched three innings one game, 3-2/3 the other. Against the Guardians, he tossed five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in October.

Projected to be a key member of the Rays rotation, his loss to start the year will without doubt be felt by the team. CBS Sports ranked the Rays rotation ninth in baseball entering the year, assuming he was back and ready to go.

Matt Snyder wrote on Monday: "It'll be interesting to see how much workload Tyler Glasnow can shoulder this year in his first full season since having Tommy John surgery, because it's possible these two are top-three Cy Young finishers (remember, I'm talking about the best-case scenario)."

The Rays have a few options in the meantime, including Jonny Chirinos, Josh Fleming, or Luis Patiño. Top prospect Taj Bradley, who was 20th on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list, could be an outsider on the list beyond that. Bradley had a successful showing on Sunday against the Red Sox, throwing a hitless inning.

While Bradley is lower on FanGraph's prospect list, writers Eric Longerhagen and Tess Taruskin wrote of him: "His fastball’s underlying traits will make his current style of pitching effective at the big league level, and Bradley’s demonstrated durability and command mean he’s going to consume a ton of innings and have some years where he’s one of baseball’s top 25 or so starters from a WAR standpoint even if that splitter is only ever okay."