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Pirates Notes: Tyler Glasnow Will Join the Rotation For at Least One Start

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PITTSBURGH — Tyler Glasnow’s September will include at least one start, after all, as the Pirates made a last-minute change to their starting rotation to give the 23-year-old another shot at putting together a quality major-league start this season.

Glasnow got two opportunities earlier this season and showed that he still had plenty to work on. He had a 5.40 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and gave up five walks in 8.1 innings. Fastball command, his still-developing changeup and holding runners on base were all identified as problem areas.

But then a triceps injury derailed his August, and he returned to Pittsburgh in September as a spare part, having been passed up for starting roles by Steven Brault and Drew Hutchison.

So the Pirates moved Glasnow to the bullpen to try and work out some of his issues at the major-league level, and there was definitely improvement.

“He seems to be at least from the short looks we’ve had here to be in a good place,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “As far as the execution of the pitches, the last couple times out of the pen have been good.”

Pressed for what was impressive about Glasnow’s relief appearances, Hurdle didn’t mince words:

“Strikes. He was in the zone. He was aggressive in the zone. The breaking ball played. The fastball he used glove side, arm side and was able to elevate at times and get some downhill angle at times. He used his fastball well.”

Glasnow’s three relief appearances totaled seven innings, and he was able to strike out more, walk fewer and nearly cut his ERA in half. He hopes he’ll be able to take the approach that he had in relief into his next start.

“When you’re pitching, it’s same game,” he said. “Every time I go to the mound, I want it to be the same. You go out there and hopefully don’t think about too much stuff — just how to execute pitches and attack hitters. I’m just going to treat it like any other game.”

Pitching out of the bullpen isn’t the way most MLB starting prospects get their feet wet, but Glasnow took to the opportunity.

“It was a good experience to go out there and try it,” he said. “They definitely liked it in terms of the mentality and the stuff. I’m excited to get the start.”

Glasnow’s season has been tough to measure. His Triple-A numbers were outstanding, but his inability to progress at the major-league level has been frustrating for him.

“If you look at numbers and stuff, some people would say that [I’ve had a good year], but when I look at myself, I’m not as happy as I have been previous years. That’s probably one of my down years for sure stuff-wise and stuff along those lines. I’m not too focused on it now. I think at the end of the year, I can look back and evaluate it more.”

He’s hoping this late-season turn in the rotation gives him something to build on for 2017.

“A lot of the stuff right now is more learning experiences than anything,” he said. “I’m definitely going out there doing as well as I possibly can ever single time. I’m really just taking it one game at a time.”

With Glasnow moving to the starting rotation for at least one turn, Steven Brault will move to the bullpen for the time being.

Against the Cubs in the final home series of the season, the Pirates will go with Chad Kuhl, Ryan Vogelsong, Jameson Taillon and Ivan Nova. That would seem to indicated that Glasnow could potentially get one more start before the end of the season, but he said he hasn’t been told about future plans.

NO NEWS

The Pirates had no update on Gregory Polanco (face), who crashed into the outfield wall Friday night, Starling Marte (back), Jordy Mercer (forearm) or Neftali Feliz (arm).

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