Kyle Glogoski's road to Major League Baseball will make another stop in Auckland, with the Kiwi pitching star re-signing with the Auckland Tuatara.
The 20-year-old Philadelphia Phillies prospect will rejoin the Auckland franchise for their second year in the Australian Baseball League on an innings limit after an impressive yearin the minor leagues.
Tipped as one of the most exciting prospects in the organisation, the expectation was that the Phillies would have wanted to keep his baseball activities to a minimum during the American off season. However, Glogoski told the Herald the organisation were on board after hearing how much he got out of playing for the Tuatara last season.
"I emailed Brian Minniti, our assistant general manager, and just reached out to him about me doing the ABL again kind of like the same as last year – five games, five starts – and just told him the benefits of me playing there," Glogoski said.
Kyle Glogoski has impressed in the minor leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies. Photo / Photosport
Last season Glogoski was limited by the Phillies to 25 innings of work, which were spread over five starts. He expected a similar cap this season, but was hopeful it might be expanded even if just a little.
"They were very happy to let me do it again and maybe even pitch a few more innings into the games this time, but I guess we'll have to see what winter programmes they've got me doing as well."
He joins fellow Kiwis Max Brown, Jimmy Boyce and Luke Hansen as confirmed signings for the upcoming season, with a number of other signings expected to be announced in the coming week. The Herald understands the Tuatara will have at least three players from the Texas Rangers organisation on the roster.
Glogoski has been one of the shining lights of the Phillies minor league system this year, graduating from rookie ball to single A, where he was quickly promoted again to the Single A-Advanced league – just three steps down from the Major Leagues.
Across the two leagues, Glogoski has made 17 appearances this season with a 5-2 record and an impressive earned run average of just 1.60. In 73 innings, he's struck out 83 hitters while allowing just 47 hits and 13 runs.
He will finish the season with Clearwater before heading down to New Zealand at the beginning of November.
