The Houston Astros’ hitters are some of the best in baseball, but their job is a lot easier when they know what’s coming.
Seasoned MLB analysts and former players picked up almost immediately on the curious way the Astros seemed to anticipate every pitch by Tampa Bay Rays hurler Tyler Glasnow in Game 5 of the American League Division Series on Thursday. Houston hopped all over Glasnow for four runs in the first inning, squaring up his 99 mph fastball and spitting on his normally devastating breaking ball.
As it turned out, Glasnow was tipping his pitches — and pretty badly, too.
MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac provided an excellent first-person breakdown of what the Astros had caught on to.
Glasnow will have all winter to mull the tough ending, while the New York Yankees will need to be on high alert to prevent their own pitchers giving something away in the American League Championship Series, which begins Saturday.
