Tyler Glasnow, Michael Wacha, Pete Fairbanks, and Nick Anderson all took the mound on Thursday, and were among those to throw bullpen sessions. Glasnow spoke to the media after his session and mentioned that he’s ready to expand his arsenal.
The right-hander said that while continuing to focus on developing his changeup, he also is adding a cutter/slider to his repertoire. Glasnow has been discussing a new offering with pitching coach Kyle Snyder, and they’re “going into the lab” to help improve it.
The reason for developing a third offering? To be less predictable.
I think it will help a lot. I just need something that doesn’t have so much depth that I can throw for a strike. I think it’ll be a good pitch to get outs on obviously too. It’s one of those things where if you’re looking at a plot I have my heaters up here my curveballs down here. I need something just right here (in between) that I can throw whenever I’m behind in the count for a strike. Just to not be so predictable.
— Tyler Glasnow
Last season, Glasnow leaned heavily on his fastball/curveball tandem to the tune of 60.6% four-seam fastballs and 34.8% curveballs, while his changeup accounted for just 4.5% of the pitches he threw. While he stymied batters with his curveball — .120 batting average and a .277 SLG — his heater was more hittable. Opponents slashed .246 BA/.460 SLG against his fastball — up significantly over his 2019 numbers (.195 BA/.328 SLG).
In an ideal world, a third offering would keep batters off his fastball.
I think it’ll help a lot. I just need something that doesn’t have so much depth I can throw for a strike. I think it’ll be a good pitch to get outs on, obviously, too. If you’re looking at a plot, I have my heaters up here, my curveballs down here. I just need something that’s going to be right here [in the middle that] I can just throw whenever I’m behind in the count, or anything like that, for a strike. Just to not be so predictable. I think it also puts it into the hitter’s mind that there’s something else, like another offering. So I think it can only do me some good.
— Tyler Glasnow
Meanwhile, Fairbanks set a goal for himself in camp: improve his changeup.
Last season, Fairbanks relied mainly on his fastball and slider combo while throwing his (rather impressive) changeup just 1.4% of the time. The right-hander joked that “If Cash has his way, I’ll be a two-pitch guy again.”
It’s not like it went anywhere. I’m just going to try to throw it more. So, Cashy: I’m doing it if you don’t mind.
— Pete Fairbanks
Luis Patiño, Chris Archer, Rich Hill, and Ryan Yarbrough are also slated to throw on Friday. Rays skipper Kevin Cash said he’s excited to see Patiño throw.
We’re going to do right by him and be patient and understand pretty unique buildup that he had last year. He seems like a really motivated pitcher that wants to be really good.
— Kevin Cash
Noteworthiness
— Cash noted that reliever Diego Castillo and catcher Francisco Mejía are not yet in camp; their arrival was delayed. They are currently going through the mandatory five-day quarantine period.
Castillo and Mejía are scheduled to take their physicals early next week, and they should be able to participate in the first full-squad workout on Tuesday.
— Per Adam Berry (MLB.com) the Rays are not anticipating any discipline for Randy Arozarena, who was detained and released without charges in November following an incident with his ex-wife. Arozarena is scheduled to report with the rest of the Rays’ position players next week.
Our understanding of things right now is that there’s no anticipated punishment (or) ramifications based on the investigation that’s taken place. That is our understanding of things. It’s something that we took seriously [and] continue to take seriously in case any new information comes about. But based on our information, based on how we’ve been informed on this, we anticipate him to be a full participant for us moving forward.
— Erik Neander