It was a relatively quiet day for Pittsburgh Pirates players in the Arizona Fall League. Scottsdale didn’t have a single Pirate in their lineup and after Thomas Harlan pitched yesterday, that meant there was still another day before Tyler Glasnow and Joely Rodriguez(Friday) would get their starts. Earlier in the day, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo posted a video about the Pirates in the AFL, focusing their attention on the play of Josh Bell at first base and the exploits of Glasnow on the mound. That video is below.
Scottsdale lost 7-5 to Mesa on Wednesday, dropping them to 9-11 on the season. They have 12 games left and trail first place Salt River by 5.5 games. Salt River finished in a tie today for the third time this season.
Angel Sanchez came on to pitch in the sixth inning with one out, a man on third and Scottsdale trailing 4-0. Sanchez hit the first batter he faced, then gave up a single that allowed the inherited runner to score. The next batter reached on an error that scored another run, which was followed by a ground out to shortstop that scored Mesa’s seventh run. After a walk, Sanchez got a fly ball to center field that ended the inning. That was the end of the day for Sanchez, who allowed a walk, a single and hit a batter. Both runs that scored against him were unearned. He threw 17 pitches in the inning, 11 for strikes.
Adrian Sampson came in for the eighth inning and got a ground out to second base from the lead-off hitter. The next batter singled, then made it to third base on an error. Sampson walked the next hitter, then with runners on the corners, he ended the inning with a double play. Despite the walk, Sampson threw just four of his ten pitches for balls in the inning. That was his only inning of work.
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.
The Pirates haven’t had anyone like Glasnow though. Cole and Taillon both had average fastballs but good breaking stuff. Glasnow has a GREAT fastball.
He’s not staying in AAA until mid-2016.
Before someone starts quipping about Cole’s 98 mph fastball. It was flat and hittable. It’s gotten better but he still doesn’t have the movement Glasnow does.
I agree….I was never that impressed with Taillon. Glasnow is a lot more impressive and has a much higher ceiling.
Yep, Glasnow will be in the rotation next year. It looks like somebody didn’t do their homework on how the Pirates handle pitching prospects.
Not sure whether this is sarcastic or not, but as per the following 2011 article, the Pirates were one of the organizations that required the fewest inning pitched in the minors before promoting a pitcher to the majors.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=13018#commentMessage
It’s sarcasm. That article is from 2005-2009, doesn’t apply to the new system. Pirates move pitchers slow and Glasnow will not be in the Pirates rotation this year.
I don’t think Glasnow will be in the rotation next season, either.
But is there any kind of analysis that says the Pirates move their pitchers significantly more slowly than anybody else? The link I pasted was the only thing I could find on the ol’ Google.
I don’t think it matters if they move them slower than others in this case. He said Glasnow is going to be in the rotation and we know better than that
The Pirates need guys to be a) able to pitch 180+ innings and b) need to be able to get major league hitters out. Glasnow will be ready for both next season.
He still has some control issues and needs to improve his change-up or he has no third pitch. He will be at Altoona to start next year and won’t jump AAA to join the Pirates next summer