Glasnow on extra rest: 'It's a good call'

ARLINGTON -- The Rays switched up their pitching plans for this turn through the rotation, but their reasoning had little to do with their current situation and much more to do with the long haul.

Tampa Bay bumped Tyler Glasnow's scheduled start from Sunday afternoon against the Rangers at Globe Life Field to Tuesday night against the Nationals at Tropicana Field and made Sunday a bullpen game started by Michael Wacha.

The Rays were able to unload the rest of their bullpen in the series finale in part because of the lengthy outings they got over the past few days from Ryan Yarbrough (complete game) and Josh Fleming (career-high seven innings) -- and because they have off-days on Monday and Thursday. Rookie left-hander Shane McClanahan, now slated to pitch Wednesday, and the rest of the Rays’ rotation will get a similar break as a result of the bullpen game.

The state of Tampa Bay’s bullpen also played into manager Kevin Cash cutting Rich Hill’s start after five scoreless innings on Saturday before turning to Ryan Thompson, Jeffrey Springs, Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo to wrap up the 3-0 win. Of that group, only Thompson (1 1/3 IP, 23 pitches) worked more than an inning or threw more than 17 pitches.

Why cut short outings and push back others when so many pitchers are performing well? It goes back to the conversations that took place throughout last offseason and Spring Training about how to keep pitchers fresh in a 162-game season coming off last year’s shortened schedule.

In this case, rather than limiting Glasnow’s innings from start to start, the two extra two days of rest provide a built-in break. It likely won’t be the last time this is a topic of conversation for the Rays this season, either.

“We knew coming in this was going to be a long season and we would have to find ways to be creative and making sure it's balanced out appropriately over the course of the season so when we hit August, September and hopefully beyond that, we've got guys that are contributing at their peak and not the other way,” Cash said. “It'll be an ongoing conversation. This is a pretty unique point in the schedule that allows us to pick up some extra days for a couple guys that have really taken on a significant workload this early part of the season -- being Tyler, Rich, Yarbs, Fleming.”

Glasnow played catch and threw in the bullpen on Saturday afternoon at Globe Life Field -- but this is a way for the Rays to manage his workload a bit. Glasnow has already thrown 77 innings this season, nine innings off his total from the shortened 2020 season (including the postseason) and already 10 innings beyond his cumulative workload in 2019. The right-hander’s career-high innings total in the Majors is 111 2/3, which he set in 2018.

“I feel good, feel healthy,” Glasnow said. “It's definitely in my best interest. I think part of me is like, ‘I want to go every five days and throw a bunch of innings.’ But I think, in the long run, it's a good call. And I trust their judgment.”

Glasnow said he feels strong despite his heavy workload. He structured his routine to take some stress off his body, throwing less between starts. He used the extra rest this turn through the rotation to push back his bullpen session and gave himself an extra day off from throwing entirely. He believes he’s healthy and strong enough to continue pitching regardless of how many innings he threw in previous seasons, but he said he trusts the plans put in place by Cash and pitching coach Kyle Snyder.

“When they tell me I'm going to pitch, I'll go pitch and I'll try to do as well as I can,” Glasnow said. “And then all the other stuff that I can't control, I just kind of try not to think about. So whenever they want me to throw, I'll go and do it. If they want me to go pinch-hit or something, I'll do that, too.”