As the Boston Red Sox trail behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East standings, their division rival received some bad news.
Tyler Glasnow on Tuesday was placed on the 10-day injured list with a partial UCL tear and flexor strain in his throwing arm and is out indefinitely.
The American League Cy Young Award hopeful will avoid Tommy John surgery and hopes to return to the Rays this season, but with a bold statement, blamed Major League Baseball cracking down on foreign substances and banning sunscreen for the injury.
This opens up the division quite a bit, which is good for the Red Sox. But of course, no one is rooting to see one of the best in baseball shut down.
"I mean, forget Tampa, for baseball," Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Tuesday said ahead of Boston's game against the Atlanta Braves. "He is one of the best pitchers in the big leagues, and what he's done the last few years, it's incredible. Obviously it's a big hit for them but obviously for the game too. This guy is one of the best pitchers in the league and I know people enjoy watching him play."
Glasnow is 5-2 on the mound this season with a 2.66 ERA, having struck out 123 batters in just 88 innings pitched so far.
This is a huge loss for a Rays team that made it to the World Series in 2020 relying heavily on the 27-year-old's arm, with the Red Sox three games back in the AL East.
