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The Tampa Bay Rays have placed Tyler Glasnow on the 10-day Injured List with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor tendon strain.
The undisputed ace of the best team in baseball, Glasnow has been phenomenal for the Rays this season, posting a 2.66 ERA / 2.75 FIP over 14 starts and 88 innings pitched. His 2.5 fWAR is tied for the 4th highest in the big leagues among pitchers, while his 36.2 K% comes in as the 5th highest mark.
Glasnow departed Monday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox after four innings. He experienced discomfort in his right elbow and motioned to the dugout that something was amiss. An MRI revealed the bad news: a partial tear of his UCL.
Glasnow previously missed time during the 2019 season as he dealt with a right forearm strain that kept him out for four months of the campaign; he only pitched in 12 games that season.
There is currently no timeline for Glasnow’s return to the Rays. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the current plan is for Glasnow to rehab the injury to avoid Tommy John surgery.
Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor tendon strain. The plan for now is to try to rehab the injury to avoid Tommy John and eventually return, but it’s a brutal blow for Glasnow, who’s been phenomenal, and the MLB-best Rays.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 15, 2021
Our guess is that rest and rehab, if successful, means that Glasnow will be able to pitch in 2022, but perhaps there are optimistic scenarios in which he could be back on the mound late in 2021.
Taking Glasnow’s place on the active roster is infielder Mike Brosseau, who had been previously optioned prior to Monday’s game.