By Jason Dill
February 24, 2015
Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Tyler Glasnow works out during spring training practice Friday at Pirate City in Bradenton. GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald GJEFFERIES@BRADENTON.COM Buy Photo
BRADENTON -- Taking in his first Major League Baseball camp could be a bit daunting, but Tyler Glasnow is relishing the chance to soak up as much information as possible to take with him wherever he lands when spring training concludes.
The expectation is he will start the year in Double-A Altoona, but he said he won't know until later this spring.
Glasnow is one of 52 pitchers in the Pittsburgh Pirates camp, which will see position players joining pitchers and catchers in camp on Tuesday at Pirate City.
While the major-league club is pretty set at the top of the rotation and has a championship-contending bullpen to back it up, Glasnow enters as a non-roster invitee.
"Tyler is a young man we think very highly of," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "We've gathered all the information we can from the people that have worked with him in the past. ... Obviously, we feel very good about his development to this point and his future."
The right-handed pitcher is known among Manatee County fans who flocked to McKechnie Field last season as Glasnow mowed down hitters in the Florida State League as a member of the Pirates' High-A team, the Bradenton Marauders, with regularity in 2014.
That season, in which he fanned 157 batters in 124 1/3 innings to pair with a 1.74 earned-run average, garnered Glasnow Pitcher of the Year honors for Pittsburgh minor leaguers.
It was the second consecutive season he was named the franchise's top minor-league pitcher. He also was named the 2014 MiLB.com Starting Pitcher of the Year and Baseball America recently ranked Glasnow No. 16 on its 2015 Top 100 Prospect list.
But all those accolades don't guarantee a spot in "The Show."
In fact, Glasnow said he doesn't let those feats affect his performance.
"My ultimate goal is to get off all those prospect lists and make the major leagues," said Glasnow, who has a 1.94 career ERA in the minors and 365 strikeouts in 274 career innings. "It's nice and it's cool. It's not really what I'm focused on. Obviously, if you do well those things will come along with it. You have to take care of the first thing and do it well before anything can happen."
Thus far in his career, Glasnow has showcased electric stuff highlighted by his fastball, curveball and change-up.
The key has been his command.
While the spring has just started, Glasnow said he's watching how the major leaguers go about their routines in order to pick up stuff he can apply to his own game.
"It's great to have him in camp and learn from these guys, these older guys, and see how they go about their business and catch little pointers here and there," said 29-year-old Tony Watson, a reliever marking his fourth full MLB season with the Pirates. "But I've definitely seen him throw a bullpen a couple times and it's pretty electric stuff, so it's exciting."
Glasnow said he's working on his secondary pitches, which includes improving his circle change-up -- a pitch he deems the weakest of his three -- so he can continue to develop.
And it's happening in his first MLB camp, which Glasnow said he found out in January when he received a call with the invite that got him excited.
The familiar confines of Pirate City and McKechnie Field, which the Pirates will move to for games beginning March 2, are added bonuses for Glasnow to keep him calm and make the adjustment to camp easier.
But that development process most likely won't end up with a big-league roster spot at the end of camp or a call-up during the 2015 season, due to the way Pittsburgh nurtures young arms.
Gerrit Cole made the jump in two seasons to the big leagues, but he was promoted to Double-A and Triple-A after his stint with Bradenton.
"Right when I got here, they kind of take guys slow," said Glasnow, who Pittsburgh drafted in the fifth round in 2011. "So you do kind of get prepared for it. You know that something is going to happen, so it's kind of pointless sitting there knowing that if you do well you can move up fast. It makes it pretty easy to set your own goals for the year and not worry about getting moving up. ... They've done it so many times and they have so much success (so) all my trust is with them."
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