Tyler Glasnow Suffers Setback; Daniel Robertson Undergoes Knee Surgery

Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow has suffered a setback in his recovery from a forearm injury, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times was among those to report (Twitter links here). Meanwhile, infielder Daniel Robertson has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery to remove a loose body. Glasnow’s dealing with flexor inflammation, which will lead to a three-week shutdown, and Robertson will miss four to six weeks in the wake of his procedure.

The Rays have already been without Glasnow since May 11, at which point he was only expected to miss four to six weeks. The club then moved Glasnow to the 60-day injured list May 26, though the goal was he’d return sometime in July. That hope’s now out the window for Tampa Bay, and that’s highly unfortunate news for the AL playoff contender.

The Rays are 45-33 and 2 1/2 games up on the AL’s top wild-card spot thanks in part to Glasnow, a 2018 trade acquisition from the Pirates who was amid a breakout year before his IL stint. The towering 25-year-old has posted a stellar 1.86 ERA/2.27 FIP with 10.24 K/9, 1.68 BB/9 and a 51.8 percent groundball rate in 48 1/3 innings in 2019.

If the Rays make the playoffs this season, a healthy Glasnow team could team with Blake Snell and Charlie Morton to lead a devastating rotation. However, it’s now unclear whether Glasnow will even return in the next couple months. His status could affect the Rays’ plans leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, as the team is currently devoid of traditional starters after Snell, Morton and Yonny Chirinos – the latter of whom has stepped up to effectively eat innings of late.

The surgery for Robertson continues a disappointing season for the 25-year-old. Robertson was somewhat quietly one of the Rays’ most productive players in 2018, when he slashed .262/.382/.415 (127 wRC+) with nine home runs and 2.4 fWAR in 340 plate appearances. But Robertson has followed those numbers up this year with a meager line of .202/.311/.281 (69 wRC+), two HRs and minus-0.3 fWAR in 206 PA. Luckily for the Rays, they’ve seen second baseman Brandon Lowe, shortstop Willy Adames and third baseman Yandy Diaz pick up the slack as Robertson has slumped.

Along with the news on Glasnow and Robertson, Topkin tweets the Rays will go without reliever Diego Castillo for approximately two weeks. Castillo went to the IL on Sunday with a shoulder impingement.