the lineup card: Season 2; vol 2
Back in High School, Phillip Glasser stumbled across a quote from former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that stopped him in his tracks. The quote read:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”
Glasser, now 23, has lived by that mantra through five of the most defining years of his baseball career. Despite being a four-year letter winner and helping lead the Tallmadge Blue Devils to a state championship as a junior, the promising shortstop received just one Division I offer. He took it, committing to stay close to home in Ohio and play for the Youngstown State Penguins. The lack of interest from schools left him disappointed, but not discouraged.
“Obviously, you can’t really control what other people think of you,” Glasser stated. “You just go out there, play hard and keep getting better. So it’s kind of just what I did.”
There are pros and cons no matter where you end up, according to Glasser. For him, joining a team coming off an 18-38 season in a mid-major conference represented an uphill climb but also an opportunity to make an immediate impact. Glasser’s collegiate debut occurred on the road against a Mississippi State Bulldogs team that was fresh off a trip to Omaha, led by now-MLB top prospects Jordan Westburg and Justin Foscue. For a freshman starter, that is basically equivalent to walking into a 400-level Astrophysics class and being handed the final exam on the first day. Glasser recorded one of the Penguins’ three hits in a 14-2 loss.
Youngstown State began the year with an 0-14 record before finally collecting their first win against Pittsburgh. Glasser wound up playing 49 games that season, hitting .266/.366/.332 while the team finished with a 13-41 record. Glasser’s recruitment class, along with the ones directly ahead of and behind him, recognized the challenge that lied ahead. They bonded together and committed to sharpening their performance. According to former Penguins teammate Steven D’Eusanio, Glasser took it upon himself to lead by example.
“By the time other people got to the field, Phillip was already 200 ground balls ahead and done with his hitting routine before practice started,” D’Eusanio said. This pushed the entire team to put in more work than they did the previous season.
D’Eusanio remembered waking up at 6 a.m. together to get extra lifts in because Glasser insisted that they were not working hard enough. Fearing that other teams and players were still doing more, D’Eusanio recalled hearing Glasser share the same messages with the entire team over and over:
“Don’t lie down tonight before bed and question if you could’ve done more today. Never leave room for that doubt in your head. Don’t take today for granted.”
Slowly but surely, the process turned to progress for the Penguins. They began 2020 with a 7-7 record before COVID cut the season short. A year later, they went 32-24.
Glasser began receiving MLB interest as a junior but he felt it was not the right time for him to make that leap. On the field, he dazzled with a .920 OPS at the top of the order. Off the field, he was a 4.0 student and made sure everyone else knew it.
“Whenever anyone needed help with the academic side of things, they went to the ‘academic weapon’ for help,” D’Eusanio said. “I’ve never seen him turn down anyone who needed help.”
Transfer to Indiana
Following his junior campaign at Youngstown State, Glasser decided to explore his options in the transfer portal. Of all the schools that reached out to the lefty-hitting shortstop, Indiana University left the best impression.
Hoosiers head coach Jeff Mercer’s background included a four-year stint at Wright State, who Glasser played against in the Horizon League. Assistant coach Derek Simmons previously served in the same role with Kent State, which is close to where Glasser grew up. He also shared the field with their third assistant, Zach Weatherford, when he was a senior at Wright State. Glasser’s connection to the coaching staff, along with the opportunity to start in a power conference, was too good to pass up.
In 2022, the rebuilding Hoosiers hovered just below the .500 mark. The former Penguin put together another offensive season worthy of draft consideration. However, with an extra year of eligibility at his disposal, Glasser felt he still had unfinished business in the Big Ten.
“We had a lot of guys coming back and kind of went through some growing pains,” Glasser said over the phone. He trusted his coaching staff and his own ability to lead a team, hoping to achieve a similar turnaround to the one he helped spark at Youngstown State. “Winning and doing something special in my college career…I don’t want to pass that up.”
Everything clicked at the plate for Glasser as a fifth-year starter. He slashed a career-best .357/.444/.515 in 63 games, ranking 19th in the nation with 95 hits. Sporting his trademark sunglasses and smeared eye black, Glasser displayed remarkable plate discipline by finishing with more walks than strikeouts. Behind their leadoff batter, Indiana emerged as a legitimate contender and wound up with a 43-20 record.
“About the last six or seven weeks of the season, every game was like a playoff game,” Glasser described. Smaller schools like Youngstown State do not receive the same opportunities due to their schedule typically having a lower rating percentage index (RPI). “Every game just meant so much more playing in front of the really good fans there…I was super thankful to be a part of it.”
Glasser’s five-year collegiate career closed with a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky during the Regional Finals in Lexington. He sat hunched over on the bench, realizing he would never have the same group of teammates and coaches again. During the postgame presser, Coach Mercer described Glasser as “the most motivated, laser-focused, dutiful player” he has ever coached.
With the MLB Draft fast approaching, Glasser left Bloomington with no regrets after reflecting on his experience, believing that there was not much more that he could have possibly done for the program.
Road to the Show
Surrounded by his parents and girlfriend at home in July, Glasser watched name after name appear on the draft tracker. All of his preparation and hard work led him to this moment – now, everything was completely out of his control.
About six picks before his name appeared on the website, Glasser received a text from his agent informing him that the Nationals would take him with the 285th overall selection. Afraid of jinxing it, he kept the news secret from his family until the tracker finally updated. Once it became official and everyone found out, Glasser described the moment as “super special,” especially since he knew he would be close to his older sister, who is a lawyer in the D.C. area. He agreed to sign with the organization that same night, joining a talented farm system highlighted by Dylan Crews, James Wood, Elijah Green and Brady House.
A week later, Glasser flew down to Florida to participate in a two-week minicamp at the Nationals’ spring training facility, ramping up for game action. After melting in the Florida heat from 7 a.m. to noon daily, Glasser and the rest of the Nats’ draft class would frequently cool off together at the beach, quickly developing a tight-knit bond as teammates.
One of the most surreal moments of his young professional career has been working with Nationals outfield/base running coordinator Coco Crisp, a 15-year veteran whom Glasser grew up watching play for Cleveland. Crisp shared baserunning tips and other advice from his own experience as a big leaguer, hoping to ease Glasser’s learning curve as much as possible.
Once the two-week minicamp grind was over, it was finally time to play some baseball. Wearing the curly ‘W’ for the first time in his pro debut, Glasser went 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, one walk and three runs scored.
“It’s always super exciting debuting for a new team in a new environment,” Glasser said. The Nationals shortstop prospect compared the feeling to the ones he experienced at both Youngstown State and Indiana, even with hardly anyone in attendance. “You kind of get that spark again…can’t draw up a debut much better than that.”
Glasser played 13 games and had 50 plate appearances in rookie ball before the Florida Complex League schedule emptied. He was told during the last day of instructs that he would be joining their Low-A affiliate for the tail end of their season. At the time, the Fredericksburg Nationals were set to begin a week-long road series in Delmarva against the Orioles’ affiliate. The excited 10th-round pick packed his things and hopped on a flight to meet his new group of teammates and coaches. He appeared in five games that final week, recording eight hits in 19 at-bats while splitting time between shortstop and second base.
His sunglasses have followed him to the minor leagues, although he ditched the eye black for a more “professional” look. Other than that, the game has not changed too much for Glasser, who in a small sample size proved to be the same efficient contact hitter he was with both the Penguins and Hoosiers. According to Glasser, the biggest adjustment from college to the pro game is learning to get his body and mind right every single day as opposed to just four or five days a week.
Preparation continues to be a focal point of Glasser’s success on the field, striving to stay ahead of schedule with sleep, stretching, lifting and eating well. He knows how easy it can be to slip up on any one of these, which is why he concentrates extra hard on staying disciplined.
Climbing through the minor league ranks is a lot like chopping down a tree and every offseason, Glasser tries to sharpen one area of his game to help chip away at his ultimate goal. He believes that the most important part about this time of year is being honest with himself about where he needs to improve. That was his mindset at Tallmadge High School and it still applies today. Until he takes the field next spring, his specific goals for 2024 will remain a mystery to the public.
“We’ll keep that a secret,” Glasser chuckled. “I’ll call you next year and tell you.”