TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WILD CARD: Texas made the 2023 postseason as the 2nd of 3 American League Wild Card teams this season, finishing with the 5th seed out of 6 A.L. playoff teams…this is the team’s 9th trip to the postseason, 2nd as a Wild Card entry (also 2012, lost one-game Wild Card series on 10/5/12 vs. BAL)…club also won A.L. West titles in the other seven seasons: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016…this year’s Wild Card berth snaps a 6-year drought without appearing in the postseason…the team had three trips to the playoffs in the franchise’s first 49 years (1961-2009), each of those three in the first 38 seasons after moving to Texas, and have now made it six times in 14 years.
TIED FOR FIRST: The Rangers finished with a 90-72 record, tied with Houston for first place and best record in the A.L. West, but club was left with a Wild Card slot due to the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Astros (TEX was 4-9 vs. HOU in 2023)…club’s tie for first place in the West came after finishing 38.0 games behind Houston in 2022. Texas clinched a postseason berth with a win on 9/30 at SEA in its 161st game, matching the latest in a season for the club to go before securing a spot in the playoffs (also game no. 161 in 1996)…team lost game no. 162 on Sun. at SEA with a chance to clinch the division title. The 9 postseason trips for Texas since moving to the 3-division format in 1994 rank 2nd in the A.L. West: 11-Oakland, 9-Texas, 8-Houston, 7-Los Angeles-AL, 5-Seattle.
RAYS UP: For the 3rd time in 9 all-time postseason trips for Texas, the club’s playoff path will involve the Tampa Bay Rays…Texas is 6-3 all- time against Tampa Bay in the postseason, 1-3 in Arlington and a perfect 5-0 at Tropicana Field…the previous 2 meetings came in 2010 ALDS (Texas won 3-2) and 2011 ALDS (Texas won 3-1), with the clinching win in both series taking place here at The Trop…those 2 series were part of the only postseasons in which the Rangers went to the World Series…the teams also played a game no. 163 Wild Card tiebreaker contest on 9/30/13, a 5-2 Texas loss at Globe Life Park.
ACTIVE POSTSEASON ROAD WIN STREAKS
OF FIVE-OR-MORE GAMES AGAINST ONE OPPONENT
Credit Elias Sports Bureau
G Team Dates Opponent
8 New York-AL 10/4/2003 – 10/7/2019 at Minnesota
7 New York-AL 10/8/1958 – 10/24/1999 at Atlanta
5 Oakland 10/7/1913 – 10/28/1989 at San Francisco
5 Texas 10/6/2010 – 10/4/2011 at Tampa Bay
RUN IT BACK: Texas went 4-2 vs. Tampa Bay in the 2023 regular season, going undefeated in a 3-game set 7/17-19 in Arlington (3-0) and dropping
2 of 3 from 6/9-11 here at Tropicana Field…when the initial series began on 6/9 in St. Petersburg, the Rangers and Rays had the two best records in MLB…according to Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the latest in a season in Rangers history for the club to be involved in a matchup with the top two records in MLB entering play.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Rangers enter this postseason with a 21- 31 (.404) all-time record in the playoffs, with the current 6-game losing streak representing the 2nd-longest playoff skid in franchise history (0-9 from 1996-1999)…Texas enters the 2023 postseason having dropped 6
straight and 9 of last 11 games beginning with 2011 World Series Game 6, this after a 10-4 span during the 2011 postseason…club’s 42 postseason games since 2010 are 5th-most in the A.L. to Houston (92), New York-AL (68), Boston (48), and Tampa Bay (46), 9th-most in MLB over that stretch… team’s 33 games in the 2010-11 postseasons matched most in back-to-back postseasons in baseball history (also 33 by 2000-01 Yankees)…only other teams with 30 games spanning 2 postseasons were the 1995-96 Braves (30), 2014-15 Royals (31), 2017-18 Dodgers (31), 2019-20 Astros (31), and 2020-21 Dodgers (30). Texas is 9-16 (.360) at home and 12-15 (.444) on the road…team has lost 5 straight and 6 of 8 in Arlington, but is 6-6 in last 12 and 9-9 in last 18 at home…club has dropped 4 of 6, 6 of 9, and 10 of last 16 on the road. The Rangers enter this year with a 4-7 all-time record in multi-game postseason series, going 3-1 in series with the home field advantage and 1-6 when not having home field advantage (only series win in 2010 ALDS vs. TB).
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Rangers Wild Card Series 26-man roster:
PITCHERS (13): TGrant Anderson, Brock Burke, Matt Bush, Aroldis Chapman, Dane Dunning, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, José Leclerc, Jordan Montgomery, Martín Pérez, Josh Sborz, Will Smith, Chris Stratton.
CATCHERS (3): Mitch Garver, Austin Hedges, Jonah Heim.
INFIELDERS (5): Josh Jung, Nathaniel Lowe, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Josh Smith.
OUTFIELDERS (5): Evan Carter, Adolis García, Robbie Grossman, Travis Jankowski, Leody Taveras.
GAME 1: The Rangers are 4-8 all-time in Game 1 of postseason series (including 2012 A.L. Wild Card Game), losing 3 of 4 and 6 of 8…Rangers are 3-4 in Game 1’s on the road, with last 2 instances coming in 2015 ALDS G1 at TOR (5-3 win) and 2011 WS G1 at STL (3-2 loss)…Rangers won only road Game 1 vs. TB: 2010 ALDS G1 here at The Trop (5-1 win).
MONTGOMERY IN GAME 1: Rangers trade deadline acquisition LHP Jordan Montgomery is slated to start Game 1 for Texas…will be appearing in the 1st Game 1 of his career, as his previous 2 postseason outings came with NYY in 2020 ALDS G4 vs. TB at Petco Park (ND, 4.0 IP, 1 R-ER in start) and with STL in 2022 NLWC G2 vs. PHI (ND 2.2 SHO IP in relief)…
WHAT A DIFFERENCE: The Rangers and Rays finished with 2 of the A.L.’s top 4 records, yet will battle things out in a Wild Card series…Texas (+165) and Tampa Bay (+195) also finished with the top two run differentials in the A.L. this season (see chart)…after the Rangers’ win on 8/15 vs. LAA, club’s run differential was +197, the highest figure at any point in any season in team history…previous high before 2023 had been a +178 figure to end the 2011 campaign (9/28/11).
BEST RUN DIFFERENTIALS IN MLB, 2023
Diff. Team
+231 Atlanta
+207 Los Angeles-NL
+195 Tampa Bay
+165 Texas
PRODUCTIVE UP THE MIDDLE: The Rangers’ middle infield combo of Marcus Semien (7.4 bWAR) and Corey Seager (6.9 bWAR) finished ranking 1-2 in baseball-reference WAR among position players…Seager’s 6.4 offensive bWAR led all A.L. players, as Shohei Ohtani (6.0) finished 2nd.
Per Stathead, Seager and Semien are the 1st middle infield pair in club history to each post 6.0+ bWAR in a single season, and just the 12th SS-2B duo in the Modern Era (beg. 1900) to achieve the feat…HOU’s SS Carlos Correa and 2B Jose Altuve were responsible for each of the last 2 instances (2016-17), with the last occurrence before that coming from PHI’s SS Jimmy Rollins (6.1) and 2B Chase Utley (7.8) in 2007.
SEMIEN WINS MONTHLY AWARD: Rangers 2B Marcus Semien has been selected as Rangers Player of the Month for Sept./Oct…he batted .282/.359/.581/.940 with 9 HR, 8 2B, 19 RBI, 23 R in 29 G…Semien tied for The A.L. lead in HR and R, ranking T2nd in the league with 33 H.
BETTER MAN: The Rangers’ 90 wins represented a 22-win improvement over 2022 (68-94), the third-largest year-to-year increase in wins (full seasons only) in Rangers history. The top 3: +27 in 1974, +25 in 1986, +22 in 2023…it also represented the 3rd-largest increase in win pct. year-to-year:
+.173 in 1974, +152 in 1986, +.136 in 2023…the +.136 increase in win pct. from 2022 to 2023 was the largest in MLB this season, ahead of Cincinnati (+.123) and Baltimore (+.111).
BOCHY BACK IN OCTOBER: Over 8 career postseason appearances as manager, Bruce Bochy has compiled a 44-33 (.571) record spanning 77 contests…the 44 playoff wins are T6th-most in MLB history, and his .571 win pct. is 5th-best all-time among the 35 managers with at least 5 postseason appearances…he has guided teams to 9 postseason appearances (including 2023), 6 division titles, 4 pennants, and 3 World Series championships…the 9 postseason appearances are T7th-most in Major League history…over his last 53 postseason games spanning his time with the Giants, the club produced a 36-17 (.679) record.
SHORTS: According to Stathead, Evan Carter (21 years, 35 days) would be the 2nd-youngest player in club history to appear in the Postseason, older than only Jurickson Profar in the 2012 ALWC, 10/5/12 vs. BAL (19-228).
GAME 1 STARTING PITCHER – #52 Jordan Montgomery, LHP (10-11, 3.20)
POSTSEASON: Montgomery will be making his first career start in a Postseason series opener this afternoon…he has posted no record and a 1.35 ERA (1 ER/6.2 IP) across 2 games/one start in his playoff career…last Postseason action came in scoreless 2.2-inning relief outing for St. Louis in Game 2 of the 2022 NLWC vs. PHI (2 H, 3 BB, 3 SO, 37 pitches/22 strikes)…first career Postseason appearance was start for New York-AL in Game 4 of the 2020 ALDS vs. TB (ND, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 62 pitches/34 strikes)…aided the Yankees to a 5-1 victory which sent the series back to Tampa Bay for a decisive Game 5 (TB won, 2-1).
2023: The 30-year-old southpaw combined to go 10-11, 3.20 ERA (67 ER/188.2 IP) with a career-high 166 strikeouts (prev. 162 in 2021 w/ NYY) across 32 starts with St. Louis (21 GS) and Texas (11 GS) this season…ranked among MLB qualifiers in HR/9 (7th, 0.86), ERA (8th), and GIDP/9 (8th, 0.95)…his career-high 20 quality starts (6.0+ IP, 3-or-fewer ER) were T5th-most in MLB and tied for most among left-handers with CHC’s Justin Steele, HOU’s Framber Valdez, and SD’s Blake Snell…compiled his first career 10-win campaign, but was still just the 7th qualified pitcher in the last 8 seasons (beg. 2016) to finish with a sub-.500 season W-L record (.476) despite posting an ERA of 3.20-or-lower…received an average of 4.72 runs in support, 14th-lowest RSA among MLB qualifiers.
LAST START: Will pitch on regular 4 days’ rest after he did not factor into the decision of his final regular season start on Thurs. at SEA (ND, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R-ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 94 pitches/56 strikes), a 3-2 Rangers defeat…exited with Texas leading, 2-1, after the 6th, but was removed from the decision after J.P. Crawford’s walk-off, 2-run 2B in the 9th (off Hernández)…Montgomery’s lone run allowed came on solo HR by Julio Rodríguez in the bottom of the 4th inning.
IT’S HOW YOU FINISH: Montgomery went 2-0, 0.67 ERA (2 ER/27.0 IP) with 22 strikeouts/5 walks in his last 4 starts to drop season ERA from 3.62 to 3.20… after opening with a 2-6 record and 4.55 ERA (28 ER/55.1 IP) in his first 10 starts of 2023, he went 8-5, 2.63 (39 ER/133.1 IP) with 114 SO/32 BB, a .232 opp. BA, and just 11 HR allowed over his last 22 starts (beg. 5/28) to close the campaign… his 2.63 ERA after 5/28 ranked 4th among MLB qualifiers over that span behind only SD’s Blake Snell (1.18), BAL’s Kyle Bradish (2.40), and NYM’s Kodai Senga (2.59)…he posted quality starts (6.0+ IP, 3-or-fewer ER) in 13 of 22 outings over that period, including QS in each of his last 4 and 9 of his last 12 starts.
VS. TAMPA BAY: Has gone 4-4, 5.12 ERA (33 ER/58.0 IP) in 13 games/starts in his career vs. Tampa Bay, his 3rd-most common lifetime opponent (16-BAL, 15- BOS, 13-TB)…start this afternoon will be Montgomery’s first outing against the Rays since a start 6/22/22 at TB w/ NYY (ND, 6.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R-ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR), 5-4 Yankees win…3 of 4 runs allowed came via pair of HR in the 2nd inning by Issac Paredes (solo) and Vidal Bruján (2-run)…is unbeaten (2-0) with a 3.38 ERA (9 ER/24.0 IP) in 5 career starts at Tropicana Field (all w/ NYY).
ON THE ROAD: Saw far better ERA results in 15 starts on the road (3-6, 2.73 ERA) than in 17 starts at home (7-5, 3.61 ERA)…his 2.73 road ERA (27 ER/89.0) was the 3rd-lowest qualifying mark in MLB to only SD’s Blake Snell (1.99) and NYY’s Gerrit Cole (2.34)…opponents batted .227/.281/.356/.638 (75-331) with 8 HR in his away outings vs. .264/.308/.424/.731 (102-387) with 10 HR at home…went 3-1, 3.82 ERA (15 ER/35.1 IP) in 6 home starts at Globe Life Field following trade to Texas, and was 4-4, 3.50 ERA (25 ER/64.1 IP) across 11 starts for the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
WITH TEXAS: Was acquired by the Rangers on 7/30 in a trade with St. Louis, along with RHP Chris Stratton and international bonus pool money, in exchange for LHP John King, INF/OF Tommy Saggese, and RHP T.K. Roby…went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA (21 ER/67.2 IP) and 58 SO/13 BB over 11 starts (8 quality starts) as a Ranger, ranking among A.L. leaders from 8/1-end of season in innings (4th), opp. OPS (7th, .630), and ERA (8th)…was 2-1, 1.73 (5 ER/26.0 IP) in his first 4 starts with the club from 8/4-21, joining Chi Chi González (3 R-ER/30.0 IP from 5/30- 6/16/15) as the only pitchers in WSH/TEX franchise history to allow 5-or-fewer runs in their first 4 starts for the team.
VS. LEFTIES: Montgomery limited left-handed batters to a .277/.292/.347/.639 (28-101) slash line with one HR and 22 SO/2 BB in 2023…lefties tallied just 4 extra-base hits (HR, 3B, 2 2B) off him this season, the last of which was a home run by Cody Bellinger on 7/23/23 at CHC w/ STL…he has issued walks to just 3 of 215 (1.39%) left-handed batters faced over the last 2 seasons (2022-23), easily the lowest walk pct. against lefties in MLB (min. 200 LH batters faced) over that span (2nd is 3.4% by Dylan Bundy)…lefties have slashed .221/.261/.319/.579 with 11 HR, 123 SO/20 BB off Montgomery in his career, as he owns the 3rd-lowest lifetime opp. OPS vs. LHB among active ML starters (min. 500 LHB faced) to only Chris Sale (.534) and Clayton Kershaw (.561).
MISCELLANEOUS: Opponent batting average by time thru the order: 1st (.234), 2nd (.253), 3rd (.258), 4th (0-2)…tossed season-high 8.0 IP in start on 8/21 at ARI (ND, 8.0 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO), the 2nd-longest scoreless outing of his career (9.0 SHO IP on 8/22/22 at CHC w/ STL)…tallied season-high 9 SO twice (last on 8/15 vs. LAA w/ TEX)…finished the month of June ranked among N.L. leaders in ERA (7th, 1.71) and opp. BA (12th, .212)…went 6-2, 2.89 ERA (28 ER/87.1 IP) in 15 starts vs. A.L. clubs (4-9, 3.46 ERA in 17 GS vs. N.L.).
TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
WELCOME TO OCTOBER — The Rays and Rangers embark on a best-of-three AL Wild Card Series this afternoon at Tropicana Field…it marks the Rays first home postseason contest since Game 2 of the 2021 ALDS vs. Boston…they are 4-1 all-time under the Wild Card designation, winning the 2013 Wild Card Game in Cleveland and 2019 Wild Card Game in Oakland before sweeping a 2020 Wild Card Series in Toronto and being swept in a 2022 Wild Card Series in Cleveland last October…the Rays are 28-34 (.452) in postseason play, going 17-14 (.548) as the home team and 11-20 (.355) as visitors…this includes an 11-10 (.524) mark in games hosted at Tropicana Field…under Kevin Cash (since 2015), the Rays are 5-1 in postseason games played in St. Petersburg. In Game 1s, the Rays have posted a 7-8 mark all-time, including 5-8 in multi-game series…they are 4-4 as the home team (3-3 at Tropicana Field)…the Rays 53-28 (.654) record at Tropicana Field this season tied the Dodgers (53-28) for the best in MLB. The Rays have lost five consecutive postseason games, a streak that began with Game 2 of the 2021 ALDS vs. Boston (14-6)…it ties the longest streak in franchise history (10/25/08-10/7/10)…each of their last three postseason games have been one-run defeats, tied for the second-longest streak in MLB history and the longest since the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series (3G)…the longest such streak belongs to the Phillies, who suffered seven straight one-run losses in the postseason from 1915-1950. The Rays won four of their final five regular season games en route to a 99-win season, their second most in club history behind 2021 (100-62)…it tied the fifth-most wins by a non-division winner in the Wild Card era (since 1995), trailing the 2021 Dodgers (106), 2001 Athletics (102), 2022 Mets (101) and 2018 Yankees (100). The Rays clinched a Wild Card berth on Sept. 17 and spent the entire 185-day regular season in postseason position from the end of play on March 30 thru Oct. 1, shattering the previous club record of 143 consecutive days (May 11-Sept. 30, 2008).
ROSTER BREAKDOWN — The Rays 26-man AL Wild Card roster was announced this morning and features 11 pitchers, two catchers, seven infielders and six outfielders…of the 26 players, 14 were not on the Rays Opening Day active roster: Aranda (minors), Armstrong (injury), Basabe (minors), Caminero (minors), Civale (trade), Devenski (signed), Diekman (signed), Glasnow (injury), Kittredge (injury), Littell (waivers), Mead (minors), Pinto (minors), Stephenson (trade) and Tapia (signed)…only three of the 11 pitchers and 11 of the 26 players were on the Rays 2022 AL Wild Card roster…19 of the 26 have previous postseason experience, including 10 of 11 pitchers (Stephenson).
THE RAY WAY — The Rays made the postseason for the fifth consecutive season, extending the longest streak in franchise history…the Rays are one of two AL teams (Astros) and one of four teams in the majors (Braves, Dodgers) to make the postseason in each of the last five seasons (2019-23)…it marks the ninth postseason berth in franchise history, all in 16 seasons since becoming the Rays in 2008…including this season, only four other clubs have made the postseason at least nine times since 2008: Dodgers (12), Yankees (11), Cardinals (10) and Braves (9). Despite being one of the two youngest franchises in the majors, their run of five consecutive postseason berths represents a streak that has been achieved by only eight of the other 29 franchises: Astros, Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, Guardians, Phillies and Yankees. The Rays current stretch of nine postseason berths in a 16-season span has been replicated at least once by only five of the other 29 major league clubs: the Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees (STATS LLC).
ON THE OFFENSIVE — The Rays averaged 5.31 runs per game, second in the AL and fourth in the majors…it was a 1.20 improvement on their 4.11 runs per game in 2022, the largest year-to-year increase in the majors…the Rays offense set club records in runs (860), home runs (230), RBI (827), slugging pct. (.445) and total bases (2,452). Yandy Díaz won the first AL batting title in Rays history with a .330 average, surpassing TEX Corey Seager (.327) on the final day of the regular season. Randy Arozarena became the first player in MLB history to post a 20+ HR, 20+ SB season as a rookie and again in each of the next two seasons (Elias)…paired with Josh Lowe’s 20-30 season, the Rays had multiple 20-20 players for the first time. Six different Rays hitters recorded 20+ HR, the most in club history and tied with the Cubs and Phillies for the second most in the majors behind the Braves (7). The Rays went 43-18 (.705) when scoring at least once in the 1st inning, tied for the fifth-best mark in MLB…they plated an AL-leading 112 runs in the opening frame, their most in any inning…they scored in the 1st inning in nine of their last 12 games.
PITCHING PROWESS — The Rays pitched to a 3.86 ERA, fifth in MLB behind the Brewers (3.71), Padres (3.73), Mariners (3.74) and Blue Jays (3.78)…they finished among MLB’s top 10 in ERA for the seventh straight season and within the top five for the fifth straight year. The rotation ranked fifth in the majors with a 3.92 ERA and led baseball with a .684 opponent OPS…the Rays bullpen combined for a 3.80 ERA, ninth in MLB, ranking within the majors’ top 10 in ERA for the fifth consecutive season…from Opening Day thru June 3, their 4.45 ERA ranked 12th in the AL and 24th in the majors…following the mid-season acquisition of Robert Stephenson from the Pirates, the Rays bullpen led the AL and ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.40 ERA from June 4 on.
RAYS AND RANGERS — The Rays and Rangers meet in the postseason for the third time after Texas defeated Tampa Bay in the ALDS in both 2010 (3-2) and 2011 (3-1)…the visiting team has gone 8-1 in the nine matchups; the 2010 ALDS was the first series in MLB history in which the visiting team won every game…the nine postseason meetings are the Rays third most against any opponent behind the Red Sox (15G) and Astros (12G). The Rays went 2-4 against them this season (2-1 at home, 0-3 on the road), posting a -2 (27-25) run differential…the Rays have lost three of the last four season series since 2019, going 12-14 overall in that span (clubs did not meet in 2020). From July 17-20, the Rays scored a combined six runs (2.00 R/G) and were swept in a three-game series at Globe Life Field, one of only two instances of the Rays being swept in 2023 (also July 4-6 vs. PHI)…this, after pushing across 19 runs (6.33 R/G) in a 2-1 series victory over Texas from June 9-11 at Tropicana Field.
TODAY’S STARTER: RHP TYLER GLASNOW (10-7, 3.53)
TODAY’S START — The righty makes his 10th career postseason start, including his first at Tropicana Field…in the nine outings, he is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA (40.2IP, 26ER), striking out 53 batters against 20 walks while holding opponents to a .237 (37-for-156) average. Will mark his third start in a Wild Card Series…he did not factor into the decision last season in Game 2 at Cleveland after tossing 5.0 scoreless innings, scattering two hits with no walks and five strikeouts. In Game 2 of the 2020 Wild Card Series vs. Toronto, he earned the win after working 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. The Rays have gone 3-6 in Glasnow’s nine career postseason starts.
RANGER DANGER — Glasnow is 3-0 with a 0.46 ERA (19.2IP, 1ER) in three career starts opposite Texas…today will mark his first career postseason
appearance against the Rangers. In his lone start vs. Texas this season on 6/9 at Tropicana Field, Glasnow earned the win after throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing one hit and three walks with six strikeouts. On 4/12/21 vs. Texas, defeated the Rangers after throwing 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk with a careerhigh-tying 14 strikeouts (also 9/6/23 vs. BOS).
FOLLOW THE LEADER — From the time of his 5/27 debut through the end of the season, he ranked among AL leaders in strikeouts (1st, 162), strikeout rate (1st, 33.4%), opp. average (3rd, .209), opp. OPS (3rd, .617), wins (T3rd, 10), opp. slugging pct. (4th, .347), opp. on-base pct. (5th, .270), WHIP (5th, 1.08) and ERA (8th, 3.53).
STRIKEOUT SAVANT — Struck out 6+ batters in each of his first 14 starts, the longest season-opening streak in Rays history, topping his own nine-start run in 2021. He recorded 11+ strikeouts in back-to-back starts, 6/25-7/1, becoming the first Rays pitcher to do so since Blake Snell from April 2-8, 2019…totaled 23 strikeouts in those outings, tied for fifth most in Rays history over a two-start span. Glasnow finished the season with 162 strikeouts, tied for third most in Rays history through a pitcher’s first 21 starts of a season behind David Price in 2014 (173) and Chris Archer in 2017 (167).
WORK HORSE — He recorded 10 straight starts with 6.0+ IP, 8/14-9/11, the longest streak of his career and longest by a Rays starter in 2023…the streak included three straight starts of 7.0+ IP from 7/20-31, matching the longest streak of his career (5/26/21-6/8/21).
TROP TALK — Opponents slashed .163/.227/.282 against him at Tropicana Field compared to .248/.306/.401 on the road…min. 200 batters faced, he paced the AL in home opp. average and on-base pct., while ranking second in slugging pct.
THE RIGHT ANSWER — Glasnow held right-handed batters to a .164 (33- for-201) average, the lowest mark in the majors (min. 200AB)…was also the lowest mark in Rays history under the same parameter, surpassing Jeremy Hellickson (.188) in 2011.
ABOVE THE CURVE — Opposing hitters went 10-for-105 (.095) against his curveball, the second-lowest mark on any pitcher’s curve (min. 100AB) behind SD Blake Snell (.079)…Glasnow’s 51.6 pct. whiff rate on the pitch also ranked second behind Snell (56.3%)…righties were just 3-for-36 (.083) with one extra-base hit (2B) against his curve.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE — Was named AL Pitcher of the Month for July after going 3-2 with a 2.11 ERA (38.1IP, 9ER), 0.89 WHIP and 51 SO against eight walks…he led the AL in strikeouts during July and ranked among league leaders (min. 30.0IP) in ERA (3rd), WHIP (3rd) and opp. average (4th, .203)…his 51 SO were tied for sixth most in a calendar month in Rays history and were his most since he accrued 56 SO in April/
March 2021.
