Everyone kept saying Tyler Glasnow would be doing big things. And I, as well as most of Pittsburgh, kept waiting with baited breath for them to start happening. And in his two years playing for the Pirates, they didn't.
...and then he gets traded to the Rays, and BOOM. Tyler Glasnow is an ace, with a ton of strikeouts, and a 3.23 ERA in 6 starts. And suddenly, Tyler Glasnow is the reverse Drew Smyly.
The Rays have finally gotten a concrete rotation together, with Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough, Yonny Chirinos, and Blake Snell's nasty material, in between Ryne Stanek's occasional 'opener' status. This pitching experiment has sort of worked for the Rays, at least as an excuse to let everyone know how awesome the Rays' bullpen is. Ryne Stanek is a tricky little reliever, Sergio Romo's back to closing games like a pro, and Jose Alvarado has been pretty great as a setup man. Good to see the craftiness of Kevin Cash and his pitching coaches has amounted to something.
Also...this third place team is slowly peeking into the Wild Card race, too. They've, at the time of writing, got a 74-63 record, and are rapidly catching up to the Mariners. I don't know if they'll be able to touch the Yankees or A's, but they could be a dangerous spoiler for the Wild Card race. Not only is their pitching underrated, but they've got a nice amount of rookie hitters who could stifle the hell out of some relievers this month.
I dunno how likely it is that the Rays wind up in the Wild Card game, but...they're dangerous. And they could make some waves in the next few weeks.
Coming Tonight: He'd been injured for most of 2017, and a month or so of 2018. Now, he's finally trying to prove himself on a team that no one's really paying attention to anymore.
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