Pittsburgh Pirates GM Huntington on Glasnow, Taillon, Hanson & More

Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington talked Tyler Glasnow‘s progress, Jameson Taillon‘s recovery, Alen Hanson & more on his most recent radio show

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington makes a weekly radio hit on the team’s flagship radio station 93.7 The Fan. Each Sunday, Pirates Breakdown will bring you a recapping of Huntington’s show, picking out the best tidbits from the show, hosted by Greg Brown. Let’s get started.

All quotes are direct from Neal Huntington as told to host Greg Brown.

On Tyler Glasnow’s Home-Run heavy start vs the Mets and his overall progess

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]He’s still definitely learning at he major league level; it’s hard to pitch behind the count and Tyler continues to learn that lesson; looking forward to him learning how to attack early and once he gets ahead, his weapons are strong.[/perfectpullquote]

Brown followed up by asking Huntington to expound on Glasnow’s first-inning issues and what can be done to course-correct them.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]He Continues to have some first inning challenges, especially on the road; you look at routine; how they get ready for the game…is there an alteration in routine, timing, sequencing approach…our guys are continuing to work through that with Tyler, and his road starts at most levels have been challenging for him[/perfectpullquote]

On Gerrit Cole‘s recent struggles

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]A decent chunk of those runs [in his last start] are on a misplayed ball in right field, so that hurt Gerrit’s numbers. The home runs have been a challenge, and that’s a sign of a lot o comfortable at-bats against him; we are going to get him back to using all four quadrants of the plate.[/perfectpullquote]

On Jameson Taillon’s second rehab start

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Very encouraging for Jameson again…felt in control and command of all three pitches; threw some outstanding curveballs and some changeups, which he did not have control of in the first outing. In our minds, jumping from 70 pitches to 85 or 90 pitches at the major league level, it’s almost a 40 pitch jump due to the stress and difference of the major league level vs Triple-A. We’ve tried to get injured pitchers to 85 or 90 pitches at the Triple-A level before bringing them back.[/perfectpullquote]

On Gift Ngoepe‘s demotion to Triple-A

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The offense continues to be a challenge for Gift, and a 40 percent strikeout rate is difficult for a manager; in double-switch opportunities, you would like there to be more of an offensive threat, and Gift does not have that right now.[/perfectpullquote]

On designating Alen Hanson for assignment

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Alen was at one time a highly touted prospect who, for whatever, reason, we had not been able to get him to click. The tools are still present; this is one as a general manager that you’re not comfortable with, another GM could have more patience or say the same thing in a different way to get that switch turned on; but you could only hold on for so long; we felt it was the right time. We gave it two solid months at the major league level, and we did not see the things we needed to see that would help us win games over the next four months.[/perfectpullquote]