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Prospect Watch: Tyler Glasnow Uses Curveball Effectively in Six Inning Outing

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P2 Top 30

A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today.  Note that this list doesn’t include players currently in the majors. If a player is in the majors, he will be removed, everyone below him will be shifted up a spot, and a new player will be added to the bottom of the list. If a player is out for the season, he will be removed and everyone below him will move up a spot. Removing these guys doesn’t mean they have lost prospect status. It is just an attempt to get 30 active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the 2016 prospect guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Altoona – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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6. Harold Ramirez, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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7. Reese McGuire, C, Altoona -[insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – Disabled List.

9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Kevin Newman, SS, Bradenton – Disabled List

12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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13. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

 14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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15.Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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16. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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18. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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19. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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20. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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22. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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24. Trevor Williams, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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25. Gage Hinsz, RHP  – Extended Spring Training

26. Adrian Valerio, SS – Extended Spring Training

27. Adam Frazier, INF/OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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28. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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29. Jordan Luplow, OF/3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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30. JT Brubaker, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Indy

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Tyler Glasnow was on the mound Friday night against Pawtucket, coming into the game tied for first in the International League in strikeouts (63) and ranking ninth with a 2.16 ERA. Glasnow started the game with three consecutive fastballs before putting away the batter on a curve that broke out of the zone. The next batter doubled off the left field wall. That was followed by another strikeout on a curve, with both batters going down swinging. Glasnow finished the inning with a line drive to center field for the third out. He threw 14 pitches, ten for strikes, 11 fastballs and three curves. No velocities on the broadcast, but the announcer did say he hit 94 on one pitch (I’ll mention every pitch speed they give).

In the second inning, Glasnow gave up a hard ground ball single, which went against the shift, meaning it probably would have been an out under a normal set up. The next ball was lined out to right field. Four pitches later, Glasnow got a double play on a slowly hit ball, which was turned nicely by Gift Ngoepe. He threw just 11 pitches in this inning, hit 96 with the fastball and broke out his first changeup.

Glasnow started the third with a check swing strikeout on a curve in the dirt. The next batter popped out to first base on a 3-2 pitch. One pitch later, Glasnow gave up his second double, this one to the left-center gap. After a couple pitches, the runner took off while Glasnow still had the ball and he was caught in a rundown for the final out. This was a 15 pitch inning, giving him 40 pitches total, 24 for strikes. He hit 77 on the curve this inning.

In the fourth, Glasnow started with a seven-pitch walk, missing on a close 3-2 pitch and nearly getting a 2-2 check swing on a curve. The next batter lined the first pitch into center field for a single. Two pitches later, he got the first out on a fly ball to center. That was followed by a two-run double lined deep to left-center. Glasnow got the next batter swinging on a curve for the second out. The shift paid off for Indianapolis with the next batter, who lined a ball into shallow right for an easy one-hopper to Adam Frazier for the out. This was a 22 pitch inning and the announcers said that Glasnow’s velocity was down, mentioning a 91 and 92 MPH pitch.

Glasnow started the fifth with a strikeout swinging on a 76 MPH curve. He also hit 92 with the fastball. He walked the next batter on four pitches. Four pitches later, he got out of the inning on a double play, using the curve to get a slow grounder to shortstop. This was a 13 pitch inning, giving him 75 total, 42 for strikes.

The first pitch of the sixth was a long out to left field. He struck out the next batter on four pitches, throwing three curves to end the at-bat. Glasnow couldn’t get through an inning clean, walking the next batter. He was hitting 90-92 MPH, and the announcers mentioned again that his velocity was low since the second inning. A wild pitch on a curve that bounced on the plate got the runner to second base. The inning ended on a fly ball to center field. Glasnow looked gassed at the end, and the last two pitches were hanging curves. That put him at 92 pitches and ended his night.

The final line was two runs on five hits and three walks, with six strikeouts in six innings. The curve looked like the plus curve we hear about often, with a lot of break and he had good control of the pitch. All six strikeouts were on curves, and he even used it for a double play. I’d say it was the best it looked this season, at least as good as his Durham game early in the year when he had all three pitches working.

The fastball looked good early, but all the damage came off fastballs that got too much of the plate, plus the velocity was down after the second inning. The opposing announcers, who said they were anxious to see him, called it an average fastball. Hard to argue that strictly based on results and velocity from this game (which is all they have seen from him). It likely wasn’t just a stadium gun issues because a Pawtucket relief pitcher was regularly hitting 94 MPH, which they noted was high for him. I didn’t see many changeups, mostly because there was always someone on base and Pawtucket only had one lefty in the lineup.

Indianapolis won this game 4-2, with a big day from Adam Frazier. He had three hits, two walks, a stolen base and an RBI, reaching base all five trips to the plate. The steal was his 13th of the year. Frazier now has 19 walks and 19 strikeouts on the season. Gift Ngoepe had an RBI double and scored a run. Willy Garcia doubled twice and scored a run. Pedro Florimon had a single, walk, run scored and an RBI. Jason Rogers walked and scored a run.

Curtis Partch and Jorge Rondon closed out the game, retiring nine of the ten batters they faced. Partch had three strikeouts. Rondon picked up the save.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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BOWIE, Md. – Cody Dickson had a strong start as Altoona beat Bowie, 6-1. Dickson’s command, always his weak point, was stronger than usual for six innings. He threw his fastball 90-91 mph for most of the game, but eventually it dropped off to the upper-80s. His curve and change were effective at times, but he bounced them at others. Dickson generally got ahead in the count and had enough quick innings that he came back out for the seventh. His control faltered badly at that point, but the Bowie hitters rescued him.

After he walked the first two hitters, the third batter tried to lay down a bunt, despite a four-run deficit, and popped the ball up. The next hitter got ahead 2-0, but instead of forcing Dickson to throw a strike, chased the next pitch and bounced into a double play. Dickson at that point had thrown only 84 pitches, so he came out for the eighth as well, but a four-pitch walk ended his night. Over seven-plus innings, he allowed two runs, five hits and four walks, while striking out three.

Edgar Santana followed Dickson and got the last six outs without allowing a baserunner, with three outs coming on strikes. His fastball was everywhere from 92 to 98, usually toward the upper end of that range. He backs that up with a power slider. His command wasn’t the best and he got a few pitches up, leading to one long blast that was caught.

The Curve’s offense got solo runs in the first and fourth. In the first, with Harold Ramirez on third and Austin Meadows on first, Meadows stole second and Ramirez scored when the throw got away. Stetson Allie provided the second run with his fourth HR. Ramirez singled in a pair in the sixth to extend the Altoona lead. On the night, Ramirez went 2-for-5 and two of the outs were lasers caught deep in the outfield. He looked very different from his early season form, when he hit little besides weak grounders.

Meadows had two doubles in five at-bats and got some good jumps in center. Barrett Barnes was 2-for-4. Reese McGuire was 0-for-1 but reached base four times on three walks and a hit batsman. McGuire was, as usual, excellent behind the plate, as none of the numerous pitches Dickson bounced in front of the plate got by him. Chris Diaz made two quick double play pivots to turn two on close plays. He also saved Dickson a run when Bowie had runners on second and third with one out and the Altoona infield playing back. The batter grounded hard at Diaz and, when he saw the runner on third get a late start, Diaz threw home instead of to first and got the out. – Wilbur Miller

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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BRADENTON – The Marauders picked up the win in game one, showing off some heads up defense and strong offense. Everyone in the lineup reached base safely tonight, with 11 hits and five doubles combined.

Elvis Escobar had two of those doubles, lining one down the third base line in the second inning, and his second double over the right fielder’s head in the sixth. Both doubles started off big innings, as the Marauders scored two runs in the second and three in the sixth, leading to their 7-3 win.

Escobar also had a heads up play on defense in the fourth inning, helping to keep St. Lucie off the board. The inning started with a batter reaching on a throwing error, followed by Colten Brewer hitting the next guy on a curveball he couldn’t break off. The third batter hit a fly ball to shallow center field, which Escobar came in on, attempting a shoestring catch. The play was close enough that the runners at first and second both stopped and started back to their respective bags, with the guy at second slipping and falling briefly in the dirt.

Escobar couldn’t make the catch, but it did short hop into his glove, and he fired quickly to second for the force out. With Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan screaming “THREE! THREE!” from the dugout, second baseman Kevin Kramer turned and fired to third baseman Chase Simpson for the tag out to complete the rare 8-4-5 double play.

The final out of that inning was another crazy one, this time bordering on TOOTBLAN territory, rather than good defense. With the runner on first, Chase Simpson fielded a slow chopper that was just in fair territory by the third base bag. He fired a throw to first, which was late. The runner from first tried to go first to third on the play, but first baseman Jerrick Suiter quickly fired across the diamond to Simpson, getting the 3-5 putout on a single where the runner started at first.

Colten Brewer went five innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on two walks and eight hits. He threw 82 pitches, and 55 strikes. He looked to have good movement on his fastball, with good velocity (sitting 92-94 and touching 96) and sink. However, he wasn’t showing good command of his curveball, and struggled to put batters away at times.

Game Two

With Kevin Newman out, Pablo Reyes got the start in both games at shortstop. Bradenton’s lineup has been crowded, which means Reyes hasn’t seen the most playing time this year. He took advantage of the opportunity tonight.

Reyes went a combined 3-for-7 with two doubles on the night, including a big double in game two. With the score tied 0-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Reyes hit a leadoff double to the gap in left-center field. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Elvis Escobar, and scored the lone run of the game on a sacrifice fly from Chase Simpson, helping the Marauders to a 1-0 win.

Reyes also flashed the glove, with a few nice plays in the field. He’s always had the skills to play the position well, but has been a bit too wild at times. He had everything under control tonight, showing off good range and a strong arm capable of playing the position. After the game, Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan said that Reyes would get most of the time at shortstop with Newman out.

Jose Regalado made the spot start, throwing five shutout innings. Regalado doesn’t have great stuff, with an 86-88 MPH sinker that generates a good amount of ground balls. He has been a good filler for Bradenton’s rotation, but it’s hard to see him doing much beyond Altoona. –Tim Williams

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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West Virginia won 5-4 in the 11th inning on a Tito Polo single that scored Cole Tucker with the walk-off winner. It was a great game for both Polo and the Power bullpen. After starter Logan Sendelbach allowed four runs in 5.2 innings, three relievers combined for 5.1 shutout innings to send it into extra innings and pick up the win. Billy Roth threw three shutout frames, striking out five batters, including four in a row at one point.

Polo went 3-for-4, with a walk, a HBP, two stolen bases, two runs scored, and he drove in two runs. Cole Tucker had two hits in six trips to the plate, including a double to lead-off the sixth inning. He scored twice and also stole his first base of the season. Carlos Munoz had three singles and drove in two runs, one on a sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 1-for-5, but the one hit was an RBI single. He stole his fourth base of the season.

Sendelbach had one of his worst outings in a season full of strong performances. The four runs are the second most he has allowed in a game, but his night did have a couple positives. His seven strikeouts set a career high, and he had an 8:2 GO/AO ratio.

Backup catcher John Bormann singled in this game to extend his season-long on-base streak to 14 games. He has a .792 OPS, which is impressive for someone who has been on the bench for 33 of 47 games.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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