ST. PETERSBURG, FL — In joining the Tampa Bay Rays, newly acquired pitcher Tyler Glasnow, previously the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect (who peaked at No. 14 on Baseball America’s top-100), has an entirely new adventure ahead of him.
In Pittsburgh, the coaching staff had apparently run out of ideas, relegating Glasnow relegated to a relief role. The Rays intend to fully reverse that course andreturn him to the starting rotation.
Despite being similarly minded organizations in some ways, the Pirates and Rays vary in some subtle but key areas for their pitchers, including where in the zone a fastball is best located (the Rays go high where the Pirates go low), and the variety of fastball to emphasize (the Pirates seem to prefer two-seam action while the Rays have recently emphasized the four-seamer).