5 years agoTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow has shown flashes of brilliance in his two-plus seasons with the Rays. However, injuries and the shortened 2020 season have limited him to just 118 innings over the last two years. There has not been much consistency in those innings, either. The ERA (4.08) and WHIP (1.13) were less than impressive in 2020 due to regression in walks (10% walk rate) and home runs (38.7% ground-ball rate, 1.73 HR/9). These are two categories that have been a problem for Glasnow in every season except 2019. Truthfully, the 50.4% ground-ball rate and 0.59 HR/9 he showed off in 2019 were never believable given his 60% and above four-seamer usage. When you are that reliant on the fastball, home runs are going to follow. The great curveball he features and the huge amount of swing-and-miss in his game will probably bring that HR rate down a bit, but he profiles to be below-average in the category moving forward. Strikeouts are a certainty with Glasnow, so you can feel confident that he will give your fantasy team many stellar outings, but those are very likely to be inter-mixed with some bad results due to the walks and the long ball. This spring, Glasnow has added a slider to his pitch mix, and it looks like the type of pitch that could take him to the next level. A lot will depend on his control, but Glasnow's strikeout stuff might get another bump with the new pitch. Tampa Bay has named him their Opening Day starter, so don't be afraid to bank on Glasnow as one of your top SPs this season.--Jon Anderson