For the second year in a row, Tyler Glasnow has been named the Pirates Prospects Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Glasnow won last year after dominating the South Atlantic League with a 2.18 ERA and a 164:61 K/BB ratio in 111.1 innings. His numbers didn’t see much of a drop in his move up to High-A this year, with a 1.74 ERA in 124.1 innings, along with a 157:57 K/BB ratio.
Glasnow saw a slight decline in his strikeout rate, going from 36.3% last year to 31.9%. The latter number is still amazing, ranking sixth among 676 qualified pitchers in the minor leagues this season. It was also the best mark in the Pirates’ system, excluding guys who didn’t have many innings. The only player who exceeded that amount, and had a decent amount of innings, was 2014 draft pick John Sever, who had a 37.7% strikeout rate in 40.2 innings in Bristol. Sever was named our Pitcher of the Year in Bristol.
The strikeouts were encouraging once again, but the best sign was the decline in walks. On the season, Glasnow only saw a slight drop, going from a 13.5% walk rate in 2013 to an 11.6% walk rate in 2014. Those numbers improved as the season went on, as seen in the table below.
| Month | K% | BB% |
| April/May |
27.2 |
16.2 |
| June |
29.3 |
14.1 |
| July |
33.1 |
7.4 |
| August |
37.2 |
8.8 |
By the end of the season, Glasnow was putting up amazing strikeout numbers, along with respectable walk numbers. To put the walk numbers in perspective, 7.7% is the league average in the majors this season, while 20.3% is the average strikeout rate. If Glasnow can just put up league average walk numbers to go with his amazing strikeout numbers, then he’ll continue putting up video game numbers with his overall results.
From a development standpoint, Glasnow made some big strides with the changeup, getting more comfortable with the pitch and developing it to where it was an average offering. The changeup, combined with his improved control, makes it more likely that he could eventually be a top of the rotation starter in the majors. He’s going to have to work on his composure in games, avoiding a big inning, or avoiding a big inning turning into multiple big innings. That’s something that will come with more challenging competition, as it is clear that Glasnow didn’t see much of a challenge the last two years in A-ball. Now that his control has improved, and his changeup has developed, he can focus on the in-game skills. That work should begin in the off-season, as Glasnow will be heading to the Arizona Fall League to pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
Below you will find our Minor League Pitchers of the Year for each level in the farm system, our previous overall award winners, and the 2014 monthly awards.
Previous Pirates Prospects Minor League Pitchers of the Year
2013 – Tyler Glasnow
2012 – Jeff Locke
2011 – Kyle McPherson
2014 Pirates Prospects Minor League Pitchers of the Year By Level
Indianapolis – Casey Sadler, RHP (3.03 ERA, 124.2 IP, 77:24 K/BB)
Altoona – Adrian Sampson, RHP (2.55 ERA, 148 IP, 99:30 K/BB)
Bradenton – Tyler Glasnow, RHP (1.74 ERA, 124.1 IP, 157:57 K/BB)
West Virginia – Buddy Borden, RHP (3.16 ERA, 128 IP, 122:48 K/BB)
Jamestown – Montana DuRapau, RHP (2.21 ERA, 61 IP, 57:8 K/BB)
Bristol – John Sever, LHP (1.33 ERA, 40.2 IP, 63:17 K/BB)
GCL Pirates – Mitch Keller, RHP (1.98 ERA, 27.1 IP, 29:13 K/BB)
2014 Pirates Prospects Pitcher of the Month Awards
April
Overall – Casey Sadler
Indianapolis – Casey Sadler
Altoona – Adrian Sampson
Bradenton – Pat Ludwig
West Virginia – Buddy Borden
May
Overall – Adrian Sampson
Indianapolis – Jake Brigham
Altoona – Adrian Sampson
Bradenton – Orlando Castro
West Virginia – Shane Carle
June
Overall – Nick Kingham
Indianapolis – Nick Kingham
Altoona – Joely Rodriguez
Bradenton – Tyler Glasnow
West Virginia – Yhonathan Barrios
July
Overall – Tyler Glasnow
Indianapolis – Rafael Perez
Altoona – Adrian Sampson
Bradenton – Tyler Glasnow
West Virginia – Buddy Borden
Jamestown – Frank Duncan
Bristol – John Sever
GCL Pirates – Dario Agrazal
August
Overall – Tyler Glasnow
Indianapolis – Rafael Perez
Altoona – Zack Dodson
Bradenton – Tyler Glasnow
West Virginia – Buddy Borden
Jamestown – Tyler Eppler
Bristol – John Sever
GCL Pirates – Mitch Keller
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
By the time he gets to the Show you may have to change the name of this award after him.
From WTM on this site:
UPDATE: McPherson suffered a fracture in his right elbow during rehab. The resulting surgery will cost him the 2014 season. If the Pirates want to bring him back for 2015, they’ll have to sign him to another minor league contract.
With his injury history I am guessing he will be made into a reliever if he is brought back. Hope he does get healthy. He is 27 in November and I really liked his control and secondary stuff.
What ever happened to Kyle McPherson?
I was going to ask the same question…I’m fairly certain he had a setback with his recovery this summer. My hope is that he is able to get healthy over the winter and come back next spring…He is another one of those guys that can be #3 , 200 innings workhorse I’m thinking.