Pittsburgh Pirates fans got to see the potential future ace of this ball club on Thursday afternoon against the New York Yankees. Tyler Glasnow faced three batters in his first MLB Spring Training game, and he did not disappoint. He impressed the fans and Clint Hurdle as well. In regards to Glasnow’s debut, Hurdle was quoted as saying “he showed good composure” and “worked with a good pace and rhythm.” This can be seen as a sign of things to come.
Glasnow made quick work of the three batters he faced, throwing seven pitches for strikes and striking out two batters in his one inning of work. Although Glasnow is impressing with his work ethic and obviously letting his pitching talk for him during the game he pitched in, I don’t see the Pirates going against their established practice of not promoting pitchers just to promote them.
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Glasnow is a 6’7″ beast on the mound that imposes his will on batters each and every time he takes the mound. He is very lanky but his delivery and mechanics can be repeated every pitch he throws. Glasnow has the makings of a Major League pitcher: a good fastball and good off-speed stuff that can keep batters guessing. Luckily for Glasnow he is in camp working with Ray Searage, being able to pick his brain about what pitches to throw in what counts. He also has the ability to learn from Gerrit Cole, who he himself was a former top pitching prospect for the Pirates but has ascended to be a work horse for the Pirates pitching staff.
Pirates fans should be excited for the future to come as Glasnow has not disappointed in his two years of minor league ball. In two years he has posted a 21-8 record with an ERA of 1.94 and 321 strikeouts in 235.2 IP. Even being injured last year, he was still able to get back to form and be the Pirates’ minor league pitcher of the year for the second year in a row. Likely to start the year in Double-A Altoon, I don’t see Tyler Glasnow having a regression year. He will be able to prove why MLB.com rates him as the Pirates’ top pitching prospect. Glasnow will be able to harness all the knowledge and insight from the big league camp and put into Double-A this year and maybe even Triple A. I don’t see the Pirates putting an innings crunch on Glasnow this year as they themselves want to see what this kid can do.
Glasnow is a 6’7″ beast on the mound that imposes his will on batters each and every time he takes the mound
When will we see Glasnow in the MLB you ask? Well at this rate he will be up in 2016. When Glasnow does reach the Major Leagues Pirates fans should be excited because we are in the midst of a pitching logjam full of great arms and prospects. If all these prospects turn out they way the Pirates are hoping for, we may just see history. Cole, Taillon, Glasnow, Sampson, Kingham is a pretty scary rotation if you ask me.
And I can’t wait to see what that rotation can do in the MLB.