Tyler Glasnow trying to avoid Tommy John surgery after partial UCL tear, blames new MLB crackdown

Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow will attempt to avoid Tommy John surgery after suffering a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and a flexor tendon strain in Tampa's 5-2 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Glasnow will try rehab first to avoid the season-ending surgery, though it’s unclear when he’d be able to return to the Rays' lineup.

A timeline, the team said, will be determined after further evaluation. Glasnow has been placed on the 10-day injured list.

Glasnow left after 4 innings vs. White Sox

Glasnow left Monday night’s game after four innings with right elbow inflammation. He allowed two runs and three hits in the win, and had six strikeouts on 53 pitches.

He said after the game that he felt “a little tug” in his elbow after throwing a fastball in the fourth inning, and then felt “a pull every time I threw” as he closed out that inning.

“It was just probably better for me not to go out and throw again,” he said after the game, noting that it wasn’t a “crazy pain” in his elbow, via MLB.com’s Adam Berry.

“I think I got it relatively early. I was just like, ‘I don’t want to go back out there and chance it.’ The velo and everything was still there. But yeah, it just felt not right.”

Glasnow holds a 5-2 record with a 2.66 ERA this season. Tampa has a league-best 43-24 record and it has the third-best odds, according to BetMGM, of winning the AL pennant at +450.

The 27-year-old boasts an impressive 16-4 record over the past three seasons with the Rays, and is 10-2 in his past 21 starts. He is tied with Cleveland ace Shane Bieber for second-best odds (+600) of winning the AL Cy Young Award, trailing only Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees (-140).

Glasnow blames new MLB sticky stuff crackdown

Later on Tuesday, Glasnow slammed Major League Baseball's decision to crack down on the use of foreign substances.

That move to start enforcing the long-ignored rule, he said, is why he hurt his elbow.

"I just threw 80 something innings and you just told me I can't use anything. I have to change everything," he said, via Bally Sports' Tricia Whitaker. "I truly believe 100% that's why I got hurt.

"I'm frustrated MLB doesn't understand. You can't just tell us to use nothing. It's crazy."

The league announced sweeping new enforcement guidelines Tuesday, and will start checking pitchers and others randomly throughout games for foreign substances next week. If a player is caught with any foreign substance on their person, they will be ejected immediately and then suspended for 10 games.

Glasnow said Monday night that the ball was “extremely slick,” and that he had to stop using anything — even sunscreen. After he made that change a few starts ago, he said he felt sore after games and has struggled to grip the ball.

"I don't want this to happen to anyone else," he said, via Bally Sports. "My lifelong dream is I wanna win a Cy Young [award] and be an All-Star and now it's just s**t on. Now it's over. Now I have to try to rehab to come back in the playoffs.

"I'm clearly frustrated. You can't just tell us to use nothing. It's crazy."

Glasnow wasn't the only one upset by MLB's new crackdown.

Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow of the Tampa Bay Rays
Tyler Glasnow left Tampa Bay's win over the White Sox on Monday night after four innings with elbow inflammation. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) (Jonathan Daniel via Getty Images)

More from Yahoo Sports:

Advertisement