What to expect from top prospect Tyler Glasnow

Once again, the Pittsburgh Pirates are using their minor league pitching depth to help the big league club.

As first reported by Buster Olney, and later confirmed by multiple outlets, the Pirates will call up top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow from Triple-A Indianapolis. His major league debut will come today against the Cardinals.

Glasnow will become the fifth different pitcher to debut for the Pirates in the last month. It was thought that Glasnow was the most major league ready out of all of those pitchers; however, there have been factors that have kept him in the minor leagues.

There has been no lack of excitement surrounding Glasnow, a fifth round draft pick by the Pirates in 2011. However, he is the last of the Pirates crop of young pitchers including Jameson Taillon, Wilfredo Boscan, Chad Kuhl and Steven Brault. This brings up the big question regarding what Pirates fans should expect from the young right hander as he prepares to face the St Louis Cardinals.

Strikeout machine

Throughout his minor league career, Glasnow has relied heavily on strikeouts. Like Gerrit Cole, Glasnow adds another flamethrower into the mix in Pittsburgh. Glasnow leads the International League with 113 strikeouts in 96 innings and is the only pitcher in the league with triple digit punchouts.

Prospects like Brault and Kuhl have proven to rely on ground balls to get outs, but Glasnow has been known to bring the heat. He is currently averaging 10.6 K/9 at the minor league level and has a fastball that can top out at 99 mph on the gun. Glasnow is also not your typical flamethrower, as he stands at six foot eight inches tall.

The 22-year old has a heavy arsenal of pitches that he uses to be deceptive, but it will be interesting to see how he mixes his pitches against the Cardinals lineup. Glasnow was able to fool hitters in the minors leagues and generate swings and misses, but it will be a much more difficult task to continue this at the major league level.

Command issues

The biggest issue with Glasnow this season and throughout his professional career has been command. While he leads the International League in strikeouts, he also sits in second with 52 walks and holds a less than walk rate at 4.9 bb/9.

In the month of June alone, Glasnow walked four or more batters in five of his six starts. He has also allowed five or more walks in five of his 17 total starts this season.

When it comes to walks, those tend to harm pitchers more than hits, especially at the major league level. Allowing free passes are a pitcher’s worst nightmare and it will more than certainly humble Glasnow if he struggles with command at the next level.

High pitch counts

With a guy who walks and strikes out a lot of hitters, also comes high pitch counts. Glasnow has only pitched into the seventh inning on two occasions this season and has never gone deeper than that. However, he has remained consistent and does tend to go five plus innings on a regular basis.

On June 11 in a game against the Syracuse Chiefs, pitch count was a huge factor for Glasnow. He only allowed two hits and was shutting down the Chiefs offense, but was unable to make it out of the fourth inning. Glasnow had compiled nine strikeouts in the contest, but had also walked five hitters, compiling 95 pitches in 4.2 innings. Glasnow only threw 51 of them for strikes and picked up a no decision in the contest.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]In the month of June alone, Glasnow walked four or more batters in five of his six starts[/perfectpullquote]

Glasnow has also been forced to leave games in which he had a no hitter going due to high pitch counts. This has happened on three different occasions this season, but his start on June 1 against the Rochester Red Wings was arguably the one in which he struggled most. Glasnow threw five hitless innings, but walked four while striking out three. The right hander picked up his fifth win of the season, but only threw 38 of his 74 pitches for strikes.

Last night, we saw Steven Brault pitch only four innings due to a high pitch count. He threw 51 of his 82 pitches for strikes and though he was effective, it wasn’t enough to keep him in the ball game. With a guy like Glasnow on the mound, there could be even more of a limit. His command issues and his strikeout rate cause him to consistently pile up the pitches, which may lead to much shorter outings at the big league level.

Hit him if you can

This season, minor league hitters have tried to create contact against the tall right hander, but have come up short. One thing that Glasnow does well is that he doesn’t allow a ton of hits. Like I said before, Glasnow has had three outings in which he took a no hitter into at least the fifth inning, but could not capitalize on it.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]On June 11 in a game against the Syracuse Chiefs, pitch count was a huge factor for Glasnow.[/perfectpullquote]

In his last seven starts in Indianapolis, Glasnow has allowed 13 hits in 39 innings pitched and has allowed 57 hits in 96 innings. Opponents are also only hitting .176 against him and he has only allowed four home runs.

Glasnow will be going up against tougher competition at the major league level, so he is bound to give up hits, but he has proven to be able to keep guys off base via the base hit.

The talent is there

There is no arguing Tyler Glasnow’s talent. He has the abilities and the tools to be a good major league pitcher, but he also has some things he needs to improve on as well.

Overall, Glasnow has had a good season, posting a 7-2 record with a 1.78 ERA. Plain and simple, he gives the team he pitches for an opportunity to win a ball game and thats what the Pirates want from him. They want him to go out there, command his pitches, throw strikes and be effective.

The future of the Pirates starting rotation is relatively unknown with so many starters now in the hunt for a rotation spot. With a good major league debut, Glasnow could put himself in the conversation to have a chance to stick around, but he has to pitch effectively in order to get that opportunity.

Excitement surround Glasnow’s debut, and rightfully so. He is a phenomenal talent who has what it takes to be good for a very long time if he can continue to improve as his career rolls along.

Expect Glasnow to possibly have some control issues early on, but to show off his arsenal of pitches and set some guys down via the punch out. It will be interesting to see if he can go deep into the ball game as well and put together an effective outing for the Buccos.

 

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