Pirates’ Tyler Glasnow: ‘If I went up, I know I would pitch well’

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Tyler Glasnow is confident his next opportunity in the major leagues will go much better than his last.

For a professional athlete, confidence and self-belief are imperative to success. Though, not too often does an athlete receive confidence from past failures.

Then again, Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow is no ordinary athlete or talent.

“I couldn’t have done any worse up there,” said Glasnow. “If I go back up, I know what I need to do well, and I’m not going to worry about it anymore. I know how to pitch and what to do.”

Glasnow, despite a tumultuous beginning to his 2017 campaign, has righted his season by being nothing short of spectacular in eight starts with Triple-A Indianapolis.

The 24-year-old moved to 6-0 with seven innings of one-run baseball in his most recent start. The performance was his third consecutive quality start and seventh with more than seven strikeouts.

“The big leagues is excited with the way he is throwing the ball,” said Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett. “If he continues to do so, he will have a chance to get back there and prove it.”

Prior to demotion on June 10, Pittsburgh’s former top prospect struggled in 12 starts with the Pirates. Glasnow was 2-6 with a 7.45 ERA in 54.1 innings of work and, most surprisingly, failed to average a strikeout per inning for the first time in his career.

Now, however, the California native is fully committed to pitching out of the stretch and is enjoying arguably his best stint as a professional.

“Honestly, for me, it’s really been a night and day switch just from mechanics to mentality,” said Glasnow, who has 73 strikeouts in 49.1 Triple-A innings. “Getting sent down was probably the best thing for me [and] just realizing that I don’t need to put any more pressure on myself.”

With Glasnow, an area of interest is walks allowed. Dating back to his professional debut, the 6’8″ right-hander has been susceptible to lapses of control, mainly because of the speed of his fastball.

Although Glasnow’s walks per nine innings sits at 4.20, Indianapolis pitching coach Stan Kyles is not concerned.

“He’s still a young pitcher and a good power arm,” said Kyles. “He’s going to always walk guys, that’s what power pitchers do. But, obviously, he has the ability to strike guys out and limit damage.

“His walks are more strategic now. I think he’s doing a nice job commanding the baseball.”

Even if a batter reaches base, the chances of scoring on Glasnow are slim. In International League play, he is stranding a career-high 97.7 percent of runners — a 12-percent increase from his time with Indianapolis last season.

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“When somebody gets on base, it’s more like, ‘All right, I don’t want him to score,'” Glasnow said. “It’s not like I’m not aggressive when there is no one on, but it’s just that extra subconscious competitor kicks in.”

Instead of attributing the lack of runners scored to a mentality, Kyles finds his starter’s repertoire to be the reason for walks and hits not translating to runs.

“That’s what he always has been able to do. He’s always been able to come up with a big strikeout and make a big pitch,” said Kyles. “He’s starting to limit those situations.”

As the quality starts and impressive showings continue for Glasnow, the less there is to prove in the minor leagues. Yet, the lanky flamethrower finds each start as an opportunity to remain consistent, rather than try to verify his adjustments and progress to Pittsburgh’s front office.

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“I don’t really think it’s about proving anything,” Glasnow said. “Right now, if I went up, I know I would pitch well. I know I’m a different pitcher.

“It’s just consistency in what I’m doing, how I’m throwing it and the mentality of a starter. … I’ve had eight starts here and they have all been exactly the same.”