Kyle Glogoski Signs with Philadelphia Phillies

Auckland-born pitcher Kyle Glogoski, 18, has signed a contract to play with the Philadelphia Phillies in America’s Major League Baseball (MLB).

Glogoski, who currently pitches for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League, had been sought by a number of MLB clubs and universities in the United States, but committed to the Phillies just before Christmas. He was due to join the team in spring training in Florida.

“I couldn’t be happier right now to finally get that pen to paper,” Glogoski said. “It’s been a bumpy road to get to this point and I couldn’t be happier to come to terms with the Phillies.”

“I couldn’t be happier right now to finally get that pen to paper,” Glogoski said. “It’s been a bumpy road to get to this point and I couldn’t be happier to come to terms with the Phillies.”

Glogoski pitched for New Zealand in the 2014 World Baseball Softball Confederation World Championship in Mexico and then became the youngest player on the New Zealand Diamondblacks men’s national team in Sydney in 2016 at the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

He first came to the attention of a number of Major League scouts when he spent two weeks in Florida in early 2017, playing for an MLB select team against Major League Baseball rookie teams at various spring training facilities around the St Petersburg area.

“One of the biggest things I learnt on that tour was how to pitch against the more advanced hitters and to have a game plan on how to approach them, and this contributed a lot to my success over there as I was able to figure out what each batter was expecting and ultimately throw a different pitch,” said the young right-handed hurler, who was clocked at 148kmh in Florida and was the hardest thrower on the entire World Team roster.

Original article by Stuff, January 4, 2017.

Photo by Marc Shannon.