Tampa Bay Rays: Is Tyler Glasnow an early Cy Young candidate?

It’s very early in the season but there’s already one name in the Cy Young discussion. Spoiler, it’s another Tampa Bay Rays pitcher.

His name is Tyler Glasnow and he’s been really good this year for the Tampa Bay Rays. We’re not even a month into the season and whether it’s because of his numbers or the lack of competition, Glasnow is at the top right now.

All you have to do really is look at his record. Entering this season he won only four games in 28 starts and nearly 40 relief appearances. He already has as many wins this year.

After five starts, he’s never given up more than two runs and as a result, holds a 1.53 ERA with 29 strikeouts after 29.1 innings.

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Entering Monday, Glasnow’s 1.53 ERA was the lowest in the American League. It beat out Matt Shoemaker‘s 1.57 and Marcus Stroman‘s 1.76. His 0.92 WHIP was the third best in the league. The best belonged to a teammate and last years Cy Young winner Blake Snell. His WHIP stood at 0.76 after four starts.

Not only has he been pitching very well, but there also hasn’t been much competition either. Aside for Snell, most of last years top AL pitchers have been under-performing.

Corey Kluber finished in third place last year but has an ERA above 5 with a WHIP above 1.60 so far. Chris Sale finished 4th and his ERA is nearly at 9. Gerrit Cole finished 6th and his ERA is also above 5. All three of their overall WAR’s are negative.

Only Snell and Justin Verlander have continued their success from last season into this season. Those two seem to be the only obstacles in Glasnow’s way and he’s been performing better than them in some areas.

If you need some comparisons, Glasnow is actually having a better start than some recent Cy Young winners have had. In 2017, Kluber was 3-1 with a 4.19 ERA after his first 5 starts. In 2016, Scherzer was 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA over his first 5 games.

The next month is going to be what makes or breaks his season as he has a tough schedule coming up. If he keeps pitching on normal rest, Glasnow should play against the Twins, Indians, and Dodgers by the end of May, in addition to the Red Sox a second time.

If he can get through those four games with good numbers, it should prove that the remainder of the season will be fun to watch and that the Tampa Bay Rays are going places thanks to pitchers like Glasnow, Snell, and Jose Alvarado.