Not feeling great, Glasnow still gets results

Tyler Glasnow came into his Arizona Fall League start Monday with a bulky 13.50 ERA on his stat line.

Of course, the statistic was a result of a single game in which he allowed a run over two-thirds of an inning, but it was a statistic that looked out of place next to the name of the Pirates' top prospect and reigning Florida State League Most Valuable Pitcher.

The lanky right-hander got back on track with three scoreless frames in Scottsdale's 2-1 win over Mesa. Glasnow lowered his ERA to 2.45 in the process.

"I'm not going to lie, I didn't feel that great," he said. "As opposed to last time, I buried the negative thoughts and went out and did what I could and ended up with better results.

"That's baseball. You're not going to feel 100 percent all the time. Health-wise, I feel good, but my command is not where I want it. Fastball command was a little around tonight. My curveball is what got me through it. It hasn't been feeling that great lately, but I know it'll be good soon."

The 2011 fifth-round pick had runners in scoring position almost immediately as he yielded a leadoff double to No. 3 Blue Jays prospect Dalton Pompey and beaned Jon Berti (Blue Jays). Both runners advanced on stolen bases, but Glasnow froze No. 4 Angels prospect Kaleb Cowart, fanned No. 10 Cubs prospect Dan Vogelbach and got No. 2 Cubs prospect Addison Russell to ground out to short.

Following a perfect second and after the first batter of the third was retired, the 6-foot-7 hurler walked Pompey and yielded a single to Berti. The inning ended on a a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play, with Cowart going down swinging and catcher Elias Diaz (Pirates) nabbing Pompey at third base.

After issuing three walks, committing an error and striking out one in his AFL debut on Oct. 7, Glasnow finished the outing with two hits, one walk and three strikeouts, having used 39 pitches -- 22 strikes. He induced three groundouts and one flyout.

"I had some instructs starts," he said. "It's not the same, game intensity and stuff changes, but I'm not going to blame it on that. I was able to stay on my routine in instructs. Sometimes that's just how it is. You won't feel good for a couple months during the season and then you'll feel great for a while. I want to focus on what you can do to control it, so you can go out and feel bad, but still pitch well."

In 23 regular-season starts, the 21-year-old California native compiled a 12-5 record and led the Class A Advanced Florida State League in ERA (1.74), WHIP (1.05) and opponents' average (.174). He ranked second with 157 strikeouts, but third with 57 walks.

Josh Bell -- the Pirates' No. 3 prospect and the FSL's Most Valuable Player -- hit a double and singled in a run for the Scorpions (4-2). Fifth-ranked Phillies prospect Roman Quinn scored a run on a wild pitch by No. 16 Nationals prospect Felipe Rivero.

Rivero (0-2) allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out two over 4 2/3 innings. Mets prospect Dario Alvarez (1-0) tossed two scoreless frames after Glasnow, racking up four strikeouts while giving up one hit and one walk.

Robertson singled in Cowart for the lone run for the Solar Sox (1-4).