INDIANAPOLIS — No specific timetable was set for Tyler Glasnow’s return to Pittsburgh after being optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-June.
He simply needed to fix several aspects of his pitching.
Glasnow has shown signs of being ready to return to the Pirates, but there have also been moments where familiar struggles remain. He’ll remain with Indianapolis after the all-star break, but for how long depends on which Glasnow shows up the most.
He is the scheduled starter for Indianapolis’ game tonight against Louisville.
The good: Glasnow’s velocity has creeped up with Indianapolis and he threw a dominant seven shutout innings on June 26th, where he put together arguably his best Triple-A performance, this season or last year. He struck out 12 and walked just two batters, allowing two hits.
“It was an absolute attack of the zone with all of his pitches,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. “There was power. The fastball velocity didn’t fluctuate as it’s done up here, which shows us that he’s confident and aggressive.”
But the bad: Glasnow has still shown moments where he has lapses of command, even walking the pitcher in two starts ago and only lasting 5.2 innings, despite throwing 107 pitches.
“He didn’t get as deep into the game as you’d like to see with the weapons that he has,” Huntington said. “High strikeouts tend to come with high pitch counts, but he showed us (in his 7-inning outing) that high strikeouts can come with a lower pitch count. We’re absolutely seeing signs of him pitching at a major-league level in Triple-A, but he also still has some work to do.”
Glasnow never threw higher than 97 MPH in his last outing with the Pirates before being optioned back to Indianapolis. But his velocity was impressive from the beginning against Louisville in his most recent start, hitting 100 MPH twice and throwing eight of his 14 pitches in the first inning at least 98 MPH. He also hit 99 MPH in the sixth and final inning he pitched.
Glasnow has been throwing from the stretch since being optioned back to Indianapolis, which he previously said has helped his velocity tick up and offer better movement on his curve.
“Confidence is probably the big thing,” Huntington said. “In talking with our guys, he feels freer, more athletic and more confidence. It leads to looser movements and looser movements lead to more explosiveness.”
Marte’s last few rehab games
Starling Marte went 1-for-4 with a stolen base for Indianapolis on Thursday as his rehab continues. He is likely going to play left field for his final three games and is not expected to travel with the team when it begins a series at Durham on Monday, just one day prior to his suspension ending.
Rotation Changes
The Pirates have adjusted their rotation coming out of the All-Star break, with the following updated pitching list.
Friday: Gerrit Cole vs St. Louis (Mike Leake)
Saturday: Jameson Taillon vs St. Louis (Lance Lynn)
Sunday: Trevor Williams vs St. Louis (Carlos Martinez)
Monday: Chad Kuhl vs Milwaukee (Brent Suter)
Tuesday: Ivan Nova vs Milwaukee (TBA)
Wednesday: Gerrit Cole vs Milwaukee (Zach Davies)
Thursday: Jameson Taillon vs Milwaukee (Jimmy Nelson)
