Tyler Glasnow Tips his pitches to the Astros in the ALDS, a breakdown
What Happened
In the first inning of Game 1 of the ALDS between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Houston Astros, Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is struggling mightily against the Astros lineup. From the very first pitch, it becomes clear that Glasnow is tipping his pitches, giving the Astros hitters a major advantage. The key tells are in the positioning of Glasnow's glove. When his glove is above his chest, the Astros know a fastball is coming. When his glove is below his chest, they recognize it as a curveball. Astros hitters like George Springer, José Altuve and Alex Bregman are able to clearly identify the pitch type based on this tell, leading to a barrage of hard-hit balls. Altuve steps up to the plate and takes the first pitch, a curveball with the glove low. On the next pitch, Altuve sees the glove up high and crushes a 98-mph fastball. Bregman demonstrates the Astros' pitch-recognition abilities even further, laying off a curveball he knows is coming based on the low glove, then jumping all over the next fastball. The Astros continue to capitalize, as Yordan Alvarez and Carlos Correa also get hits after recognizing the pitch type. Correa even alerts his teammates to the tell, instructing them that "if it's down, it's a curveball. If it's up, it's a fastball." Glasnow appears to become increasingly flustered as the inning progresses, admitting afterward that he was "tipping [his] pitches" and getting "a little nervous." The Astros take full advantage, scoring four runs in the first inning alone against the helpless Rays starter. highlights the importance of pitch recognition and the ability to identify tells in the opposing pitcher's delivery. The Astros' keen eye and quick adjustments at the plate prove to be the difference, as they jump all over Glasnow's predictable pitch patterns to take an early lead in this crucial ALDS matchup.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe Astros were all over the Rays
pitcher glass now last night all over
them in the first inning
this one's brought to you by these
sports ladder and it's going to be a bit
of a longer video because we got a lot
to talk about this is what happened you
see his glove level these are two
different pitches it's where he rests
his glove that's what was going on so if
we go even further look one is above the
letters one is below the letters above
fastball below curveball the Astros must
have known this may happen going in and
been on the lookout for it the rest of
the delivery is the same it's just all
where he rests so this is the first
pitch of the game and it's kind of a
Midler area I mean it's I would guess
curveball knowing what we know but it's
actually a fastball so there's some
exceptions it wasn't always you know
exactly and there's sometimes reason in
the middle this one is lower again but
then look it gets high
Springer sees that all over the fastball
so this had to be something the Astros
were like hey be on the lookout for this
Altuve is up and this is the first pitch
and that's low the gloves at the letters
below it that's a curveball
Altuve doesn't really like curveballs he
likes fastball so he just takes that one
the next pitch out to baguettes look at
that above the letters on his chest
Altuve knows all right this is a
fastball I love fast balls BAM 98 I
don't care
gonna hammer it all over our 2p looks at
the dugout says yep he's doing it it's
on yeah it's going on be on the lookout
for it now this Bregman at bat is the
biggest example because look at this
that's a curveball the glove is down and
look at Bregman spit all over this
curveball no interest knew it was coming
no thank you
next pitch he knew a fastball was coming
and he tried to jump it he couldn't he
says you know what this next one's a
curveball I can tell by his glove and I
yeah I think maybe hitting the curbs
gonna be easier than it in the 98
mile-per-hour fastball so he takes this
curveball and he's all over it and
smokes it to right-center now let's see
how
Perez was up Alvarez the glove was never
very high or very low he was in a Midler
area he grounds out but now girls up and
that's a fastball right it was above the
letters he takes next pitch so low so
dramatically low that he knows this is a
curveball and he's amped up for it BAM
another base hit another run and this is
where things got interring you see
Bregman say if it's down it's a
curveball if it's up it's a fastball
tells Cray that and now I don't know
what happened here but glass now said
yeah I was tipping my pitches and after
all that I was getting a little nervous
and you can see in his face what the
[ __ ] is going on Correa must have been
hunting a curveball cuz he takes
fastball takes fastball again he's in an
O 2 count ready for the curveball but
it's a bad pitch so he just takes it now
he's got to protect because he's got two
strikes on him and then this he gets the
curveball so it wasn't always
dramatically they knew what was coming
but sometimes they did and that's enough
to score four runs in inning when you
know what's coming
read it got off fast balls but the glove
was kind of in a Middler area for him
like that one little high little low
nothing drastic yes so there you go
that's basically what happened glass now
is tipping his pitches it's all had to
do with where his glove sat this is
pretty obvious if you are looking out
for this this is really obvious
sometimes they tip pitches and you still
can't even figure it out but someone can
see it and you can't this one I mean
once you know to look for this I think
everyone can see it it's a bad time is
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