Tyler Glasnow did not have a good first outing in the Arizona Fall League last week. You could say that the start looked horrible on paper, but a pitching line, especially an abbreviated one that lasted just 29 pitches, can only tell so much of the story. People that were at the game tell a much different story of Glasnow’s outing.
Keith Law wrote that Glasnow was one of the top two pitchers he saw during the first week of the AFL. He mentions his fastball, which sat 93-97 MPH, had great downhill plane and his curve(79-80 MPH) was a plus pitch, with tight rotation and depth.
Baseball America also had a positive scouting report on Glasnow, saying that batters were powerless against his curve. They had his fastball topping out at 97 MPH as well, though they call his curve a low-70’s pitch, which is likely a mistake. When I saw him it was 76-80 MPH, which is in line with what Law said. Either way, both of them really liked his curve/fastball combo.
Both Law and the BA article mentioned that Glasnow got a bad call on a curve that should have resulted in a strikeout and instead, it was ball four and it caused Glasnow to reach his pitch count early. I also heard that same thing from another source, so that is something you don’t see in the box score. He obviously had control issues, which isn’t anything new with Glasnow, but the first-hand reports are much more encouraging than his pitching line.
Glasnow is scheduled to start tonight’s game at home against Mesa. We will have a recap up shortly after the game ends.