Tyler Glasnow did not have a good first outing in the Arizona Fall League last week. You could say that the start looked horrible on paper, but a pitching line, especially an abbreviated one that lasted just 29 pitches, can only tell so much of the story. People that were at the game tell a much different story of Glasnow’s outing.
Keith Law wrote that Glasnow was one of the top two pitchers he saw during the first week of the AFL. He mentions his fastball, which sat 93-97 MPH, had great downhill plane and his curve(79-80 MPH) was a plus pitch, with tight rotation and depth.
Baseball America also had a positive scouting report on Glasnow, saying that batters were powerless against his curve. They had his fastball topping out at 97 MPH as well, though they call his curve a low-70’s pitch, which is likely a mistake. When I saw him it was 76-80 MPH, which is in line with what Law said. Either way, both of them really liked his curve/fastball combo.
Both Law and the BA article mentioned that Glasnow got a bad call on a curve that should have resulted in a strikeout and instead, it was ball four and it caused Glasnow to reach his pitch count early. I also heard that same thing from another source, so that is something you don’t see in the box score. He obviously had control issues, which isn’t anything new with Glasnow, but the first-hand reports are much more encouraging than his pitching line.
Glasnow is scheduled to start tonight’s game at home against Mesa. We will have a recap up shortly after the game ends.
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.
Hello John,
From the video in the previous article, it looked like Glasnow’s troubles began when he had to pitch from the set position (runner on 1st). How much velocity drop off is there when he is pitching from the windup versus the set position?
Hey John. Any idea the schedule Glasnow is on? It doesn’t appear as if Scottsdale or the AFL have much of a website. I’d like to go see him but it would have to be on a weekend. Thanks.
thanks John.. how would you rate his change, is it still a developing pitch.. i’m super excited about this kid.. who do you think has the best change up in our system? i guess change ups are more important for lefty pitchers though eh
His change is coming along fine. Last year at WV, the pitch was below average to start and an average offering by the end of the season. People who saw it this year and last noticed improvements, including one person saying it’s a possible third plus pitch. It definitely isn’t in the same class as his fastball and curve, but it seems like he keeps improving and part of that just comes from being forced to throw the pitch in big spots
To answer the second question about the best change, we rated Nick Kingham as having the best one in last year’s prospect guide. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone that has surpassed him. I believe Adrian Sampson could be close, he really showed strong improvements with his change and he mentioned it as a reason for his success
Visions of Nolan Ryan fastball/curve combo playing in my brain as I read this article. When he’s on, it’s going to be magical! Can’t wait for his arrival to PNC!