BRADENTON, Fla. — Tyler Glasnow was the latest of the Pirates’ fifth starter candidates to throw his hat into the ring with a start against the Detroit Tigers at LECOM Park Saturday afternoon.
Glasnow produced something of a mixed bag in his four innings of work that totaled 82 pitches. He struck out nine in what was a fairly weak Tigers lineup for this time of spring.
In the third inning, he ran into trouble, when Phil Gosselin couldn’t handle a hard-hit Brendan Ryan grounder at third base. With a man on second, Adam Frazier couldn’t get to Andrew Romine’s ground single up the middle, then Tyler Collins sent a fastball over the 375-foot left-center wall.
It was a case of the stuff not matching the outcomes for Glasnow, as his curveball was playing well with devastating break and pinpoint location. His changeup, though still not used as often, also looked good. His fastball was sitting between 95 and 97 on the stadium gun. But the combination of the long ball and the pitch count left Glasnow desiring more.
“The big thing today was the pitch efficiency and I kind of ran up the pitches today, but I’m kind of happy with some ground balls. I just have to go back out and be more efficient next time.”
To get nine strikeouts does take some pitches, and Glasnow said that’s a trade-off he’s willing to make, but maybe not to the extreme he did against the Tigers.
“I think today, it was a good amount of strikes and not a lot of walks,” he said. “I just think there were a lot of foul balls and swings and misses. I’m not really out there trying to do that by any means. I was spinning the ball well today and there was some deception. Towards the fourth inning was the best I felt. The curveball started to take shape. The changeup and fastball were coming along. It was a good sign.”
Hurdle pointed out that Glasnow was more efficient in Triple-A last season, so the key is getting that previous success to transfer to a higher level.
“He’s developing on the pitch efficiency,” he said. “He’s had it in the minor leagues. It’s about throwing strikes and challenging hitters. Pitch efficiency is going to provide him an avenue to pitch longer in games, which is very important to the team, so you can’t lose sight of that.”
Glasnow feels that he’s really made strides as a pitcher this spring, focusing on becoming a pitcher rather than a thrower and taking lessons from the coaching staff and applying them to on-field situations.
“This is the most I’ve learned in any baseball setting,” he said. “It’s been like a month, taking in so much information. There’s so many guys here that have so much to teach you. Honestly, I’m just super excited I can stay [in camp] this long. It’s been an awesome experience.”
Glasnow, of course, still does not know the outcome of the fifth starter competition that he’s in with Steven Brault, Drew Hutchison and Trevor Williams. But he feels good about the performances that he’s put out there.
“The last two starts are the best I’ve felt,” he said. “There were some rough ones in the beginning, but that’s past me now. It’s more competition mode now and these last two have really felt like game starts.”
Steven Brault also pitched on Saturday, going four innings and giving up one run and four hits and three strikeouts. Brault didn’t get to face any of the Tigers’ regulars because he came in later in the game.
MEADOWS MASHING
Austin Meadows hit his second home run of the spring, a long shot to right-center field off Tigers’ reliever Kyle Ryan. Meadows is not going to make the team. His time in spring training is about getting comfortable with the Major League team and coaching staff and feeling comfortable against Major League pitching.
POLANCO SCRATCHED
Left fielder Gregory Polanco was a late scratch from the team’s lineup Saturday. The team announced that he is suffering from left shoulder discomfort and listed as day-to-day. He did not play Friday after going 1-for-4 with a double and playing six innings in the field Thursday against Boston in Fort Myers.
Polanco said that he hurt his shoulder on a throw against the Red Sox and called his scratch “precautionary.” He added that he’s working on being ready for Opening Day. Jose Osuna replaced him in the lineup and in left field.
Saturday was supposed to be just the second time all spring the Pirates played their three starting outfielders together. Hurdle said Friday that he was excited to get them back in the lineup after all three missed Spring Training time at the World Baseball Classic.
“I don’t have any concerns about [them missing time],” he said. “There are some nuances that they’ll be able to work on, but it was out of our hands. So, there’s nothing we could do about it, there was no reason to stress over it and now, we’ll get them back together as often as we can and go from there.”
STEWART ‘FEELING BETTER’
Catcher Chris Stewart (left groin) is not in the lineup, but says he is “feeling better” after being removed from Friday’s game in the eighth inning. He had an MRI performed and was diagnosed with a slight strain, which he called “positive news.” He has not attempted to crouch or run since the injury.
“I was just running down to first base,” he said. “I didn’t make any strange moves or anything. It was just standard running form and I just felt it grab. It was a little weird, but it’s not as bad as we initially thought. We’re definitely optimistic about Opening Day.”
TAILLON TO PIRATE CITY
Josh Lindblom will start for the Pirates against the Phillies in Clearwater on Sunday, followed by Wade LeBlanc, A.J. Schugel and Jared Hughes. That means that Jameson Taillon will take his turn in Pirate City instead as he attempts to get stretched out to 100 pitches.
It’s the same path that Gerrit Cole and Ivan Nova have taken recently, and there’s clearly a trend of the Pirates sending their more established starters over to get their work done while keeping a more watchful eye on those still being evaluated at LECOM Park.
“It’s nice that they trust us to go over there and get the work in,” he said. “I think it says a lot that the coaches trust us to go over to the back fields and not just treat it as a joke. We’re going to go over there, be professionals and get our work in. It feels good to be in that company.”
