30.2 F
Pittsburgh

First Pitch: Neal Huntington Discusses Glasnow’s Changeup and Taillon’s Innings

Published:

CHARLESTON, WV – I’m in West Virginia this week, watching the Low-A squad, which included Mitch Keller today. Another person who is in West Virginia this week, and who also watched Keller today, is Pirates’ General Manager Neal Huntington. During the rain delay this morning, I caught up with him to discuss a few topics around the minor league system.

Obviously the biggest topic relating to the big league level would be the progress of the top pitching prospects in the upper levels — Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon. Both have been performing well lately, and both are showing encouraging signs with their development.

One of the most encouraging things from Glasnow came on Tuesday night, when he threw his changeup 15 times, with 12 going for strikes. That was in the process of going six shutout innings, with two hits, one walk, and 11 strikeouts.

There was some concern that Glasnow might struggle with the changeup, since it isn’t as good as his other two pitches. That said, he needs to develop the pitch, and the only way for that to happen is to throw it more often. Huntington said last week that they might get to a point where they need to start forcing him to throw the pitch more often. I asked today if that was what happened in yesterday’s outing.

“It was a conversation about the next steps of his development,” Huntington said. “It’s time to start using the changeup as a weapon, and that’s going to be a huge tell for us, as far as his taking steps to be a quality Major League pitcher. He used it, but he also used it as a weapon and had very good effectiveness from our reports. A very encouraging sign.”

Huntington received good reports about the usage of the pitch, noting that he not only threw it, but that it was effective, as indicated in the stat line.

“He used it, and used it effectively and it had an impact. All three of those things are positive signs. Obviously the use is important, but the ability to use it at various points in the count, against various hitters, and he showed very positive first steps.”

One thing to note about the start is that Glasnow was going up against a Durham team that ranks near the bottom of the International League in offense. It’s a great thing to see him doing well with the changeup, but you only want to put so much on that one start. If this trend continues, and the success carries over against more difficult teams, then the Pirates will have to make a decision on bringing up Glasnow.

As for Taillon, he’s off to a great start, with a 1.65 ERA in 16.1 innings, along with a 16:0 K/BB ratio. He makes his next start this afternoon, looking to continue his run. He’s returning after two years away from upper level hitters, but it doesn’t look like the adjustment back has been a difficult one.

The Pirates are also focusing on limiting his workload early, being conservative in bringing him back, but also trying to save innings for later in the season. Huntington discussed this, repeating some things he has said since Spring Training.

“With Glasnow and Taillon, we’ll be cognizant of their pitches, their innings, their stress innings, their stress pitches early in the season,” Huntington said. “The idea is to get to the end of the season and not have anything left in the bank, but also to not be in a position where we’ve got to make a really hard call that their workload is too much. So it’s that delicate balance that we walk with all pitchers as we build them up. How far can we push them, but not want to push them too far.”

I feel that Taillon is ahead of Glasnow in terms of stuff, since Glasnow has more to work on to reach his upside. Taillon just needs to get to a point where he’s not restricted, before he can be called up. However, if Glasnow shows quick development with his changeup, continuing what he showed Tuesday night, then he could move ahead of Taillon.

**I’ll have more from my interview with Huntington on Thursday, taking a deeper look at Josh Bell, what has led to his success this year, and when he might be called up. To get that article, you’ll have to subscribe.

**Kevin Newman Exemplifies the Pirates’ New Focus on Hitting. I also talked with Huntington about last year’s first round pick, and included that discussion in my article on him today.

**Prospect Watch: Mitch Keller Loses Shutout Streak, Still Pitches Well. My breakdown of Mitch Keller’s start. I’ll have an article and video on him in the afternoon. Just from the conversation I had with him today, you can expect some detailed discussion about mechanics and changeup grips.

**David Todd Podcast: When Will Taillon and Glasnow Be Ready? My weekly interview with David Todd, discussing Taillon, Glasnow, and several other prospects.

**Morning Report: Indianapolis Leads the League in Pitching Thanks to Top Prospects. John Dreker looks at how successful the Indianapolis rotation has been.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

Related Articles

Latest Articles