Tyler Glasnow’s last start in Triple-A was very encouraging. The top prospect went six innings, giving up two runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out eight. He had a few outings in June where he didn’t give up any hits or runs, but this start where he did give up a few hits and runs was much better, due to the walk total.
Glasnow came into the last start with 20 walks in 23.2 innings over his last four starts. That’s a pretty alarming rate, and something that won’t bode well at the Major League level. I wouldn’t say he has fixed his control issues based on the most recent outing. Back on June 6th, he walked two batters in 5.1 innings, before struggling for those four starts. He’s had two other starts this year where he walked one batter in 6-7 innings of work, and each time he followed that up with five walks in five innings. He had another start where he walked none, and followed that with three walks in five innings.
The control issues stem from Glasnow not having a good fastball on a given day, and not having the secondary pitches to bail himself out. The Pirates have been trying to fix this, attempting to get him to throw his curveball for strikes early in the count, or to use his changeup more often to improve the pitch. The curveball is a strikeout pitch, but not as effective early in the count, or when he’s behind in the count. The changeup just isn’t there at all, which means Glasnow is a two-pitch guy, with a huge disclaimer.
The huge disclaimer is that Glasnow’s pitches work as a pair right now. When he’s controlling the fastball, and getting ahead of hitters, the curveball is a dangerous weapon. He can get opposing hitters to expand their zone with two strikes, and at that point he doesn’t have to be as fine with the pitch, and can get people chasing. But when the fastball isn’t working, and his control is off, hitters aren’t going to be chasing that same curveball. He has to be a bit more exact with the pitch, dropping it in the strike zone and hitting his spots, which he can’t do on a consistent basis. Thus, the curveball is only really a weapon when his fastball command is on.
So which Tyler Glasnow will we see tomorrow? I don’t think you can say for sure whether it’s going to be one or the other. I’ve been saying he’s not ready to come up because you need one of those secondary pitches to step up and bail out the fastball when he loses command of the pitch. If he’s up for the long-term, you’re looking at the very likely possibility that he could dominate in some starts when the fastball is on, and really struggle in other outings when the control is off.
But in one single start, you can roll the dice and hope that you get a day where he’s commanding the fastball. I don’t know if that will be the case tomorrow afternoon against the Cardinals, but I think every Pirates fan will be hoping it will be the case. Because Tyler Glasnow has the highest upside of any pitching prospect in the system, and if the fastball control is on tomorrow, we’ll get a really good glimpse of just how good he could be.
**Tomorrow morning I will have “The Book on Tyler Glasnow”, which is a full scouting report on his pitches and his game. “The Book on…” series has been my favorite one to write this year, as it combines years of coverage of a player, and everything we know to date from our live reports. It is information you won’t find anywhere else, and only available to subscribers. If you’re not a subscriber, you should definitely sign up today. Then read the Glasnow report tomorrow. And while you’re at it, check out the reports on Jameson Taillon, Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault, Adam Frazier, and Jacob Stallings.
**Brian Peloza will have live coverage tomorrow of Glasnow’s debut in St. Louis. Brian has done an outstanding job covering the Indians and Glasnow this year. You should definitely be following him on Twitter, and I look forward to his reports tomorrow.
**Indianapolis Coaches Agree: Tyler Glasnow Creates Uncomfortable At-Bats. Speaking of which, Brian got some feedback from the Indianapolis coaching staff on Glasnow tonight, including hitting coach Butch Wynegar looking back to his playing days for a comparison, when he faced other tall, hard throwing pitchers like Randy Johnson.
**Tyler Glasnow Will Make His Major League Debut Tomorrow. The big news from today.
**Prospect Watch: Seven Shutout Innings for Stephen Tarpley. Nice to see Tarpley bouncing back after a poor outing the last time out.
**The Pirates Are Shopping Jon Niese, But What Could They Get For Him? I look at why you shouldn’t just assume Niese will have no value on the trade market.
**Pirates Recall Kyle Lobstein, Option Steven Brault. My guess is Lobstein goes down tomorrow for Glasnow, then they bring up another bullpen arm on Friday for the weekend series.
**Jacob Stallings Outrighted to Indianapolis. Good to see the Pirates maintaining their catching depth, and adding a key person who has worked with the pitching prospects.
**Morning Report: Comparing Two Similarly Ranked Prospects. John Dreker takes a look at the seasons from Mitchell Tolman and Casey Hughston in West Virginia.
