BRADENTON, Fla. -- Late last season, the Pirates' front office looked at the team's pitching staff and wondered if reinforcements were needed. Tyler Glasnow had dominated Double-A hitters, much like he did at every level before that, and he was pitching pretty well in Triple-A. Should the Bucs call up their top prospect?
General manager Neal Huntington admitted last week the Pirates had "legitimate discussions" about promoting Glasnow, baseball's seventh-ranked prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. They ultimately chose not to, leaving Glasnow in Triple-A. But Huntington will get a chance to make that call later this year.

The Pirates also will make a long-awaited phone call to fellow right-hander Jameson Taillon, their No. 4 prospect. Injuries have set back the 24-year-old, who, like Glasnow, will start this season only one step away from the Majors.
The Pirates' rotation, as it's currently constructed, lacks proven depth. Pittsburgh has an imposing 1-2 combination in Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano, while the rest of the group (Jon Niese, Jeff Locke and Ryan Vogelsong) have typically been back-end arms. Pittsburgh has set the stage for Glasnow and Taillon to be fixtures in 2017, but their arrivals will take place at some point in '16.
"There's no question some guys are going to have to step forward and pitch with a little more consistency," Huntington said last week at Pirate City. "Some guys are going to have to step up and come out of our system and help us over the course of this year."
The question, then, is when? It's not simply a matter of Super Two cut-off dates and service-time issues, either. Both pitchers will have something to prove when they open the year with Triple-A Indianapolis.
Glasnow, 22, hopes to more consistently throw his curveball, develop his changeup and, most importantly, further refine his command. Taillon, 24, wants to prove he's healthy, better than ever and that the past two seasons weren't "lost" years.
• Glasnow No. 2 on MLB Pipeline's Top 10 RHP Prospects list
Glasnow has walked 4.2 batters per nine innings in his Minor League career. While those control issues all but vanished in Altoona, they resurfaced after his promotion to Indianapolis, where he walked 22 hitters in 41 innings. But Glasnow said he ultimately benefited from moving up midseason. He learned to stick with the routine that works best for him despite a different environment -- a transition he might have to make at the highest level this year.
The 6-foot-8 righty has cruised through the Minors so far, posting a 2.07 ERA in four seasons and striking out nearly 12 batters per nine innings. It's not hard to look at Glasnow and see a potential top-of-the-rotation arm, someone who could join Cole as another homegrown ace.

But for now, Glasnow is trying to block out the noise and anticipation.
"You get into it knowing that hopefully you're going to play in the big leagues. It's not anything that really stresses me out," he said. "Wherever I'm at, I'm just going to try to pitch as well as I can, try to treat every start like it's the same."
The same will be true for Taillon, although he's coming from a far different place. Taillon hasn't thrown a pitch in an affiliated game since 2013, completing his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery only to be set back last year by hernia surgery.
But spending the last two years in Bradenton's "chain-link fence league," as he put it, allowed him time to polish his mechanics and address his weaknesses away from critical eyes. He's recently placed a greater focus on a healthy diet and exercise, saying he wants to "invest" in his body.
"After going through my rehab, my mechanics and my pitches are all sharp," Taillon said. "I think if I stay healthy, I have a chance to contribute up here this year."
Taillon said he felt better than ever last season while pitching in extended spring training games at Pirate City. Still, the Pirates don't want to rush him from two years of rehab right into the Majors.

"I'm sure he wants to be a big leaguer from Day 1 of the season," Huntington said. "But in our minds it would be unfair."
The Pirates must also carefully monitor both prospects' workloads. Glasnow has yet to throw 125 innings in a season, and Taillon is two years removed from his 147 1/3-inning campaign in 2013.
The Bucs want both stretched out enough to pitch without restrictions in the Majors in 2017, but they don't want to burn all their innings early this year, leaving them unable to contribute in Pittsburgh come September or October.
So the Pirates will watch closely as Glasnow and Taillon enter the final stages of their development, waiting to make a pair of phone calls that could shape Pittsburgh's rotation for years to come.
"We'll get [Taillon] some upper-level competition, we'll get Tyler some continued advancement against upper-level competition," Huntington said, "and look forward to those guys helping us at some point this year."