Rays are looking for Tyler Glasnow to go deep vs. Red Sox on Friday

BOSTON — With “a lot of baseball getting played” this weekend — as manager Kevin Cash called it — the Rays are hoping for a longer outing from Tyler Glasnow on Friday against the Red Sox than in his season debut.

Glasnow, sidelined since Feb. 27 with a left oblique strain, made his first start Saturday against the Dodgers and was limited to 4 1/3 innings, as he needed 83 pitches to get there.

But with the Rays and Red Sox playing four games in three days — Friday night, a day/night doubleheader Saturday and a matinee Sunday — and the Rays likely to lean heavily on the bullpen Saturday with the potential of no set starter in either game (with Josh Fleming working in one, and either Yonny Chirinos or Cooper Criswell likely added as the 27th man), they are giving Glasnow a longer leash.

“See if we can get him close to that 100-pitch mark and see if somehow we can find that efficiency where he just continues to get deep in a ballgame,” Cash said. “So however deep he can get in a ballgame would certainly help.”

Glasnow said he felt fine in the days after his debut — “normal recovery” — and threw a good bullpen session Wednesday and was ready for Friday’s start, pleased to get back in somewhat of a regular schedule.

“I think it was just, like, I was glad to be back out there,” he said. “Just to feel the emotions and, like, the adrenaline again was nice and kind of just got me back into that in season routine.”

Glasnow also was glad to be back with the team, having made a late-September return last season from August 2021 Tommy John elbow surgery, then spending the first two months of this season in rehab.

“It’s not as boring as being (at Tropicana Field), doing your stuff and then going home and the team is on the road,” he said. “It’s nice to kind of stay busy, be here on the road, have that normal routine and go out to the game. It’s good to feel normal again.”

History lesson

The Rays are the first team to lead the majors outright in both home runs (103) and steals (77) at the end of May since the 1955 Dodgers, a team that included Jackie Robinson and Don Zimmer and won the World Series. … The Rays joined the 2001 Mariners as the only teams to win 40 games before June 1; the Mariners won 116 that year.

Number of the day

45

Rough amount of hours (from 7 p.m. Friday to 4 p.m Sunday) in which the Rays and Red Sox are scheduled to play four games, weather permitting as rain is forecast for all three days.

Miscellany

Reliever Shawn Armstrong, out since the start of spring training with a neck issue, is expected to be activated this weekend, potentially as soon as Friday. But the roster shuffling could be complex due to the doubleheader. ... The July 7 home game against Atlanta was chosen by AppleTV+ as part of its exclusive Friday night package, so no Bally Sun Rays TV coverage. … The Randy Land seating area for Friday home games has been expanded to a second section (now 141 and 143) with tickets $49 and including an exclusive T-shirt. … Rising prospect Junior Caminero, the 19-year-old power-hitting infielder acquired in November 2021 from Cleveland, was promoted to Double-A Montgomery after hitting .356 with 11 homers, 32 RBIs and a 1.094 OPS in 36 games at High A Bowling Green. … Triple-A outfielder Ben Gamel, hitting .267 with an .839 OPS, had a Thursday assignment clause in his minor-league contract, allowing him to leave for a big-league job elsewhere, with resolution expected by Saturday. … Pitcher Chris Muller, who was called up last month but didn’t get to pitch, was released due to a rules technicality. The Rays planned to take him back off the 40-man roster but since he was injured (elbow) they weren’t allowed to make an outright assignment so he was put on release waivers.

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