Pittsburgh Pirates Promote Top Pitching Prospect Tyler Glasnow

(photo credit: mlb.com)

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced that they will call up top pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow, according to what a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney. Glasnow is expected to make his major league debut on Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Glasnow is the second prized pitching prospect to be called up by the Pirates this year, as the team promoted Jameson Taillon earlier in the season. 

Before getting injured and being placed on the disabled list, Taillon went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA. He also struck out 21 batters, and he posted a 1.25 WHIP in 28 innings pitched. Glasnow was pitching for the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates Triple-A affiliate, before being promoted to the MLB. Glasnow was drafted by the Pirates in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB First Year Players Draft. Glasnow, 22, went 7-2 with a 1.78 ERA, and a 1.14 WHIP. 

Glasnow also struck out 113 batters, and he limited his opponents to a .176 batting average against him. In 17 starts and 96 innings pitched, Glasnow has only allowed 19 runs and four home runs. Glasnow was selected last week to pitch in the Triple-A All-Star Game. With both Taillon and Gerrit Cole on the disabled list, the Pirates only had four starting pitchers, which is probably the main reason why Glasnow was called up to pitch in the big leagues. 

The 6’8” right-hander has had a very successful five year minor league career. Glasnow is 35-18, with an ERA of 2.01, and he’s posted a WHIP of 1.07. He’s limited batters to a .172 batting average against him, and he has a K:BB ratio of 614:230, in 479.1 innings pitched. Glasnow was considered the second best pitching prospect in the majors, behind Lucas Giolito, who was called up by the Nationals last week. 

Glasnow is the number six ranked prospect on ESPN’s Keith Law’s top 50 list of prospects. He was rated as the 14^th best prospect by Baseball America heading into the season. The hurler has a fastball that hits 99 MPH on the radar gun, and he has a curveball and changeup that is unhittable when there’s command on it.