BRADENTON, Fla. — Cade Spurlin was sitting shotgun in his parents’ truck one night last February, sailing along I-15 somewhere between Las Vegas and Los Angeles after a baseball tournament, when he got an urgent text message from Jim Wagner, his pitching coach at West Ranch High School.
Wagner needed a catcher. A student of his, he said, this local kid from Santa Clarita, Calif., planned to come by the Wildcats’ practice the next day and was scheduled to throw a bullpen session.
“Tyler Glasnow,” Wagner wrote. “He’s in the Pirates organization. Topped out at 101 mph.