After handily defeating the Dodgers on Friday, 9-3, the Tampa Bay Rays will go for the series win with Tyler Glasnow on the bump this afternoon.
At 38-15, the Rays enter play a season-high 23 games over .500 one-third of the way through the season.
On Friday, the Rays’ offense flexed its muscles with home runs from Yandy Díaz and Jose Siri, 13 hits overall, and four stolen bases.
They slug. They take 90 feet by the stolen base. The first part of the equation is to try and keep these guys off the bases. They homer. They run. They’re aggressive. They do a good job of using their roster and maximizing the skill sets.
— Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts
Tampa Bay will welcome co-staff ace, Tyler Glasnow, back into the fold this afternoon. In a corresponding move, right-hander Cooper Criswell was optioned to Triple-A Durham.
While Glasnow will be making his first start of the season, there likely won’t be a tight leash placed on him. He’s built up to six innings, and since he missed roughly the first two months of the season, he shouldn’t have much-to-any innings limit. In other words, he should be ‘all go and no slow’ this afternoon and moving forward.
The New What Next
Tyler Glasnow (AAA, 0-0, 0.68 ERA, 2.56 FIP) will take the mound, pitching opposite future hall-of-famer Clayton Kershaw (6-4, 2.98 ERA, 3.29 FIP).
Tyler Glasnow (oblique) covered six innings and struck out six while allowing an earned run on two hits and two walks Sunday in his final rehab start for Triple-A Durham. Making the fourth start of his rehab assignment, Glasnow built up to 67 pitches and once again looked sharp during his time on the mound. In those four outings with Durham, Glasnow maintained a 0.68 ERA and a 2.56 FIP, with a 0.98 WHIP, and a 3.99 K/BB.
Clayton Kershaw started Sunday against the Cardinals and allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while striking out six across 3.2 innings. Assuming he rejoins the team when expected, his next start lines up for next weekend in Tampa Bay. This came after he covered a season-low four innings against the Twins in which he allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven in four innings. All told, the future hall of famer maintains a 2.98 ERA and a 3.29 FIP on the season, with a 4.93 K/BB, and a 1.10 WHIP across 57.1 innings. He relies primarily on a hard 87 mph slider that has some short glove-side cut, and a 91 mph fourseam fastball, while also mixing in a 74 mph 12-6 Cooperstown curveball that has exceptional bite. Kershaw is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in two career starts against the Rays. It bears mentioning, Tampa Bay is hitting .304 against southpaws this season, so expect the team to exploit any of Kershaw’s mistakes.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 5/27/23 Starting Lineup
- Díaz 1B
- Franco SS
- Ramírez DH
- Arozarena LF
- Paredes 3B
- Bethancourt C
- Margot RF
- Walls 2B
- Siri CF