Since last September, fans have been campaigning to have Tyler Glasnow despite months of resistance from Pittsburgh Pirates management but those efforts were certainly backed up by a 7-4 win against the Phillies in which the prospect could not pitch out of the fourth inning.
Glasnow struggled so much with his control that the same fans pleading for his arrival were at PNC Park booing and showing their displeasure at a dud of an outing.
It was expected that Pirates manager Clint Hurdle would receive postgame press conference questions about Glasnow but his three-plus inning disappointment resulted in the first five questions being asked about the effort which was cut short by right shoulder discomfort.
“At the end of the day, he kept them off the plate,” Hurdle said. “He left seven on base. That’s a hard way to live up here. I don’t want to peel back too many layers. We’ll see what the injury is and take it from there. He’s aware of the things he needs to work on, and when he’s ready, we’ll work on them.”
Hurdle did not pull any punches on Glasnow after the game, but offered no assurance that his next start would be made with the Pirates as there is no timetable for his injury.
What was confusing was Hurdle and Glasnow telling different stories about the shoulder injury.
“He didn’t notice or tell us or share anything with us until just visually we looked at him moving his arm around,” said Hurdle regarding the injury.
Glasnow meanwhile knew he was dealing with this shoulder injury and continued to try and pitch through it.
“It’s hard for me to come up here and tell everyone my shoulder was bad, so I threw badly,” Glasnow said. “I definitely wasn’t 100 percent, but it’s one of those things where you have to go out with everything you have.”
Every athlete takes pride in what they do, and Glasnow is no exception. It is likely that this opportunity was too great and by not disclosing his condition, he was in his eyes being a team player.
The tell tale sign that this outing was going to be short was Glasnow’s control, or lack thereof.
Let’s forget that Glasnow walked three batters and threw 78 pitches in just over three innings of work, both of which are not excusable by any stretch. Instead, let’s focus on the two hit batsmen.
The first was Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp, who was hit by a 91.4 mile-per-hour pitch in the helmet during the third inning, a sound which could easily be heard all the way up in the press box. The Pirates already have enough experience on a similar close call that Ryan Vogelsong is still recovering from. Rupp was examined by doctors and departed the game.
Though Rupp ended up experiencing no problems after undergoing tests, the hit was enough of a warning sign that something was not right with Glasnow.
“This team, the Pirates, have a tendency to pitch inside. That’s part of their program,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin told Andrew Erickson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Today, I have an issue with a guy is that wild where if you’re going to pitch inside and you’re gonna hit a guy in the head, you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here.”
If that kind of quote sounds familiar, it should because it was the same accusation made when Arquimedes Caminero was hitting batters while quite possibly doing his best Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn impression, which ended with a trip to the disabled list.
If that was not an obvious sign, hitting mound opponent Aaron Nola an inning later was even more telling. Nola would be OK and stayed in the game, but it was clear to the Pirates that something was not right as they called the bullpen to warm up Juan Nicasio.
Control is not just limited to how you throw though. It also implies having control of the entire field and Glasnow certainly did not do that.
Five times the Phillies ran on the Pirates pitcher and five times they were called safe. In three innings, that is way too many times and it proved consequential.
“It takes a little while for me to get to the plate, so I just need to be more aware of it, and that’s definitely a huge part of the game I need to keep working on,” Glasnow said.
Glasnow did not provide much to reporters on the injury other then continuing to call it day-to-day. He refused to blame it for why he did not execute Saturday afternoon, though he did admit he was not 100 percent.
He previously told reporters that his curveball was in the worst shape it’s been in years and said this game his stuff was not any better.
What an understatement.
Glasnow has a lot to learn about what it takes to succeed in the major leagues and fans finally got the chance to see it. Whenever Glasnow is healthy, he still has a lot of learning to do, and that will absolutely have to be done at the minor league level.
Photo credit: @Pirates
