LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Tyler Glasnow's first start of the spring left him a little frustrated, and manager Clint Hurdle wasn't too excited about it either.
"I just think today we had a game plan going in, and I was behind in the count and I couldn't throw anything but fastballs," Glasnow said after giving up five runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 7-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves. "I think when you're going the second time through the lineup and they know a fastball is coming, it's going to be easier to hit."
Glasnow, 23, could have gotten out of a four-run third inning with minimal damage if first baseman Josh Bell had been able to catch Nick Markakis' low line drive right at him. But the Braves followed that with three straight line drives for RBI singles.
"The game plan was fine for two innings, so now when the game plan doesn't work, are you going to point the finger at [pitching coach] Ray [Searage] and the game plan? Or are you going to look at the execution of the pitches and where they ended up?" Hurdle said. "I know what we're going to look at."
Hurdle and Searage wanted the young right-hander -- the Pirates' No. 1 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com -- to concentrate more on establishing fastball location than on results, even while he is trying to earn a spot in the rotation. Glasnow acknowledged that too many of his pitches were high, and that, "If you're going to work on something, now is the time."
"I saw him moving the ball around the first two innings but when the ball gets elevated up here, it's hard for anybody to pitch," Hurdle said. "He's got some more work to do."