Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Tyler Glasnow Scouting Report

Pittsburgh Pirates righty Tyler Glasnow has likely moved into the role of the top-rated pitching prospect in the game with Alex Reyes out for the year.

Player Profile

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Tyler Allen Glasnow out of high school in California in the 5th round of the 2011 draft.

That year’s draft has turned to be one of particular value for the team, producing Gerrit Cole already, with Josh Bell likely to start in 2017. There are other players still working their way through the system, but one that did not sign of note was 20th round selection Trea Turner, who went to college and is now a big part of the Washington Nationals future.

Glasnow opened with the Pirates’ Gulf Coast League team, and he finished with one appearance with the New York-Penn League team in State College.

Overall, his 2012 line was 12 appearances, 38 1/3 innings pitched, a 1.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, a 10.83% walk rate, and a 28.03% strikeout rate.

Glasnow made enough of an impression with the Pirates to go straight to West Virginia of the low-A South Atlantic League for all of 2013 as a 19 year-old. He made 24 starts, throwing 111 1/3 innings, posting a 2.18 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 13.5% walk rate, and a 36.28% strikeout rate.

His impressive performance as a teenager in full season ball shot him up ranking lists. Baseball America ranked him at #46 overall, MLB Pipeline had him at #27, and Baseball Prospectus had him at #42.

Glasnow certainly did not slow down with his promotion to high-A Bradenton in the Florida State League in 2014. He made 23 starts, throwing 124 1/3 innings with a 1.74 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 11.56% walk rate, and 31.85% strikeout rate.

The Pirates sent Glasnow to the Arizona Fall League among the best prospects in the game, and he held his own, making 7 appearances, throwing 19 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA and 1.66 WHIP, posting a 13.95% walk rate and a 23.26% strikeout rate as one of the youngest players in the AFL.

His continued excellent performance allowed him to continue a rise up the rankings. BA had him #16, MLB #12, and #21 by BP.

Glasnow opened 2015 with AA Altoona, earning a midseason promotion to AAA Indianapolis. As a 21 year-old pitching in the high minors, he still found the sledding quite favorable, making 22 starts, throwing 109 1/3 innings, with a 2.39 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 9.66% walk rate, and 30.56% strikeout rate.

Often noting his improved walk rate in the upper minors while maintaining his elite strikeout rate, Glasnow pushed his way even further up ranking lists, to #14 in BA’s list, #10 with MLB, and #11 with BP.

2016 brought an opening assignment to AAA Indianapolis, and Glasnow ended up spending much of July bouncing between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis before an injury sent him on a rehab that just happened to coincide with Altoona’s playoff push at the AA level.

He returned to the big leagues in September, initially working out of the bullpen in his first few appearances before getting a couple starts to close out the year.

On the 2016 minor league season, Glasnow made 22 starts, throwing 116 2/3 innings with a 1.93 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 14.62% walk rate, and a 30.97% strikeout rate.

With the Pirates, he made 7 appearances, 4 of them starts, posting a 4.24 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 12.38% walk rate, and a 22.86% strikeout rate.

Next: Glasnow's scouting report