{"id":81497,"date":"2022-09-29T07:33:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T07:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/inside-tyler-glasnows-long-road-back-from-tommy-john-surgery\/"},"modified":"2022-09-29T07:33:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T07:33:13","slug":"inside-tyler-glasnows-long-road-back-from-tommy-john-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/inside-tyler-glasnows-long-road-back-from-tommy-john-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Tyler Glasnow&#8217;s long road back from Tommy John surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 640px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container\" style=\"padding-bottom:67%;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow throws a live batting practice as he returns from Tommy John surgery prior to a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, Aug.  23, 2022, in St.  Petersburg, Fla.  (AP Photo\/Mike Carlson)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Recently, Tyler Glasnow \u2014 who bypassed his obvious physical destiny as a runway model or an understudy for a classical Greek statue to instead become a 6-foot-8 right-handed pitcher \u2014 got his boating license.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don&#8217;t really need a boating license to boat in Florida,\u201d he said last month when the Tampa Bay Rays passed through New York.  \u201cBut I&#8217;ve just been doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the Rays took two of three from the Yankees, Glasnow threw bullpens and lost chess games in Washington Square Park to the expert locals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI almost won,\u201d he said of his most recent match.  \u201cBut the guy ended up beating me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Losing at chess, though, was a welcome change of pace compared to the previous 14 months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s nice to be on the road because it changes my routine every single day.  I think the hardest part of rehab is the monotony of just like: rehab, and then you go home there&#8217;s nothing else to do,\u201d Glasnow said.  \u201cLike I can&#8217;t go get a job, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday \u2014 one week before the 2022 regular season ends \u2014 Glasnow will finally return to his day job as a top-of-the-rotation starter for the Rays.  As they fight to hang onto their American League wild-card berth and perhaps steal home-field advantage in the first round from the Toronto Blue Jays (the Jays are currently the fourth seed in the AL, the Rays are the fifth), he&#8217; ll return to the mound for his first major league appearance since June 14, 2021.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div style=\"\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader noheight\"><img class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - MARCH 17: Tyler Glasnow #20 of the Tampa Bay Rays poses for a photo during the Tampa Bay Rays Photo Day at Charlotte Sports Park on Thursday, March 17, 2022 in Port Charlotte, Florida.  (Photo by Mary Holt\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/KDPN4UmrrrhW2.XbfBUVog--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/b9913390-3f5e-11ed-bf73-9a161758bff1\"\/><noscript><img alt=\"PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - MARCH 17: Tyler Glasnow #20 of the Tampa Bay Rays poses for a photo during the Tampa Bay Rays Photo Day at Charlotte Sports Park on Thursday, March 17, 2022 in Port Charlotte, Florida.  (Photo by Mary Holt\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/KDPN4UmrrrhW2.XbfBUVog--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/b9913390-3f5e-11ed-bf73-9a161758bff1\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">PORT CHARLOTTE, FL &#8211; MARCH 17: Tyler Glasnow #20 of the Tampa Bay Rays poses for a photo during the Tampa Bay Rays Photo Day at Charlotte Sports Park on Thursday, March 17, 2022 in Port Charlotte, Florida.  (Photo by Mary Holt\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>&#8216;Something&#8217;s different here&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Injuries push pitchers from the center of the sport to the sidelines, if not out of sight entirely, for up to entire seasons, putting careers on ice while the expectations linger \u2014 and that&#8217;s only if you&#8217;re lucky.  Elbow injuries in particular, like the kind that necessitate Tommy John surgery, seem to loom like landmines, even while the relationship between durability and intensity remains murky.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the Rays acquired Glasnow from the Pittsburgh Pirates and quickly turned the fifth-round draft pick with a then-5.79 career ERA who had bounced between the bullpen, the rotation and Triple-A into a budding ace.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe identified certain traits about him that we liked very much, but it&#8217;s not like we were out on a limb, right?\u201d  said Peter Bendix, who was the Rays director of baseball development at the time and was promoted to general manager this past offseason.  \u201cHe&#8217;s throwing 98 miles-per-hour with a hammer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that was the last season he threw over 100 innings, plagued with injuries and injury-related inconsistency ever since.  Glasnow said he first realized something was wrong \u201cin 2019, against the Orioles.\u201d  three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I threw a changeup and it was a double play, it was like a 95-mph changeup, and I remember just throwing it really wrong,\u201d he said.  \u201cThat felt weird, not really pain, but I couldn&#8217;t get my mind off it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After his next start, he was diagnosed with a right arm strain.  \u201cI was optimistic, like, &#8216;<em>Oh, OK, it&#8217;s not torn.&#8217;<\/em> I could rehab back.  And I think it just took a lot longer than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Glasnow missed most of that season, returning in September.  He made it through the postseason and a shortened 2020 managing the occasional discomfort with longer warmups and the confidence to get guys out with whatever he had.  That worked until a game against the Chicago White Sox last season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe MRI was still kind of the same as it was before, and I was like &#8216;Something&#8217;s different here,&#8217;\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He had a 2.66 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 88 innings for the reigning American League champions and, just one start before, had been feeling better than ever.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe weirdest thing was, right before I got hurt was the first time in my career I was like, <em>&#8216;Oh, I feel really good on the mound<\/em>,&#8217;\u201d said Glasnow.  \u201cIt&#8217;s not one game is really good, one game is really bad.  I almost feel like my proprioception \u2014 I know myself well enough mechanically now \u2014 is to where it&#8217;s not this roller coaster of trying to reinvent myself.  This was the first time in my career I was like, I know what I&#8217;m doing.  Like, no matter how I feel, I know that I can get back to my staples that made me good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At first, they tried to forgo surgery.  But in August, Glasnow had Tommy John to repair his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).  Dr.  Keith Meister performed a newer hybrid version of the surgery that involves reconstruction along with a brace.  For Glasnow, it was like the other shoe had finally dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing this tall and throwing this hard, it was just kind of inevitable I guess,\u201d Glasnow said.  \u201cWhen it finally went, it wasn&#8217;t like a relief, but it was like at least I&#8217;ll be able to pitch pain free.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He went into the process clear-eyed about the mental grind of a year-long rehab.  He&#8217;d heard guys talk about it before, and he was ready to weather the ups and downs of incremental progress and inevitable setbacks.  The boredom, though, that was the worst part.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to show up every day for 14 months, doing the same thing and not really having any reward for it,\u201d Bendix said.  \u201cFourteen months, even 12 months, is a really long time.  And you don&#8217;t get to exercise your competitive juices.  You don&#8217;t get any kind of payoff at the end of the day.  You don&#8217;t get to be with your teammates.  You don&#8217;t get to travel on the road.  You don&#8217;t get to do any of the perks that make this lifestyle more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just think after like two hours, I was like, <em>I gotta go do something else besides watch TV<\/em>,\u201d Glasnow said.<\/p>\n<p>Hence, the boating license.<\/p>\n<h2>Rays make commitment<\/h2>\n<p>Maybe it&#8217;s all that salt air and sea breeze that comes from being out on the ocean or maybe it&#8217;s some sort of innate California chill that the Santa Clarita native brought east with him, but Glasnow seems remarkably unstressed about rehab or returning after over a year away .  Other pitchers have said that the TJ process involved tears and self doubt and dark days.  And then, even when you&#8217;ve finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, there&#8217;s one last hurdle to clear: Can you convince your arm to go full force again?  And if it does, will the stuff be the same?<\/p>\n<p>Glasnow has no fear of getting back on the mound, but he resists the implication that he simply exists without anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think if this happened to me like four years ago,\u201d he said, \u201cI would have handled it not well at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was his last season with the Pirates.  And compared to his time there, Tommy John recovery has been smooth sailing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think because of what happened in Pittsburgh, how s***ty mentally it was for me, I always compare it to the worst feelings,\u201d he said.  \u201cAnd the rehab process was nothing compared to &#8217;16 and &#8217;17 for me in Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What was so awful about that?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being bad at pitching, I guess,\u201d Glasnow said.  \u201cThat type of anxiety is way worse than anything I felt here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Especially because he feels like he&#8217;s pitched his way into some career security.  The Rays gave Glasnow a chance to become his best self.  Early in the recovery process, the team promised that, as eager as they were to have him back on the mound, they wouldn&#8217;t do anything short-sighted.  The priority was to protect Glasnow&#8217;s career beyond a single postseason push.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after their trip to New York, the Rays threw some money behind that sentiment, signing Glasnow to a two-year extension \u2014 paying him $5.35 million for his final year of arbitration eligibility and buying out his first year of free agency at $25 million, with Cy Young bonuses built in.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a gamble for a guy who will throw his first meaningful pitch in 472 days on Wednesday.  The Rays are careful with their cash, to put it nicely, often trading players who <em>have <\/em>been contributing before they get too expensive.  But the past year of grueling rehab has only solidified what they see in Glasnow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have tremendous confidence in who Tyler is as a person,\u201d Bendix said.  \u201cHe&#8217;s an incredible athlete, a freak athlete, the type of athlete that you want to see out there on the mound in an important game.  But the person that he is, the work ethical, the way he takes care of his body, the way he takes care of his mind \u2014 if anybody is going to get the most out of his physical gifts, it&#8217;s Tyler.  When you&#8217;re looking to make a commitment like that, you are committing to the person, even more so than the pitcher, and that&#8217;s really what gave us the confidence to go out there and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow throws a live batting practice as he returns from Tommy John surgery prior to a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo\/Mike Carlson) Recently, Tyler Glasnow \u2014 who bypassed his obvious physical destiny as a runway model or &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/inside-tyler-glasnows-long-road-back-from-tommy-john-surgery\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Inside Tyler Glasnow&#8217;s long road back from Tommy John surgery<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54913,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/first-call-joe-schobert-already-released-mixed-injury-news-for-ravens-tyler-glasnow-attempting-a-comeback\/","url_meta":{"origin":81497,"position":0},"title":"First Call: Joe Schobert already released;  mixed injury news for Ravens;  Tyler Glasnow attempting a comeback","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"In Wednesday's \u201cFirst Call,\u201d a former Pittsburgh Steeler is struggling to keep a new job. The Baltimore Ravens are getting mixed results on the injury front. Tyler Glasnow is trying to return. And Duquesne's football team has new captains. That was quick Joe Schobert didn't last very long in Denver.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61383,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/shane-mcclanahan-scratched-from-start-with-shoulder-impingement\/","url_meta":{"origin":81497,"position":1},"title":"Shane McClanahan Scratched From Start With Shoulder Impingement","date":"August 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"9:18pm: Both Cash and McClanahan expressed some amount of optimism postgame McClanahan wouldn't need to miss much time (Topkin links). That won't officially be determined until tomorrow's imaging results come back, of course. 6:52pm: ray of ace Shane McClanahan was scratched from tonight's start against the Marlins shortly before game-time.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38144,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/rays-pitching-coach-kyle-snyder-gets-injured-on-mound-visit\/","url_meta":{"origin":81497,"position":2},"title":"Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder gets injured on mound visit","date":"August 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"DETROIT \u2014 The Tampa Bay Rays already have 15 players on the injured list. Now pitching coach Kyle Snyder might be on the shelf, too. Snyder injured himself walking toward the mound to visit ace Shane McClanahan during the seventh inning of a 9-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Kyle Snyder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/Kyle-Snyder.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54780,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/walker-buehler-undergoes-tommy-john-surgery\/","url_meta":{"origin":81497,"position":3},"title":"Walker Buehler Undergoes Tommy John Surgery","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Dodgers star hurler Walker Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery and a repair to his flexor tendon this afternoon, according to announcements from the team and Buehler himself (h\/t to Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). The club had already announced that Buehler would undergo an elbow procedure that would end his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46450,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/los-angeles-dodgers-starter-walker-buehler-will-have-season-ending-elbow-surgery-next-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":81497,"position":4},"title":"Los Angeles Dodgers starter Walker Buehler will have season-ending elbow surgery next week","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Los Angeles Dodgers' faint hopes of having Walker Buehler in their postseason rotation ended on Monday, when it was announced that their ace pitcher would require season-ending elbow surgery. 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But with the Reds rebuilding, Krall traded Pham to the Boston Red Sox on Monday night for a player to be named later.Pham was scratched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/31\/PCIN\/ab1bb2bf-4160-4995-854c-5cfa9118e616-073122_REDS_0041.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/YwivAim5fI4PiIHsIN9Lfw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-09\/4b77c7d0-3f53-11ed-ad2f-e97259a49a8c","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}