Koda Glover on his desire to face big hitters in key moments

Fans have been excited to see right-hander Koda Glover make a meteoric rise to the big leagues this season. With Glover, they have had a chance to see the focus the youngster brings to his job - that closer mentality and killer instinct - used to get each hitter he faces out.

Glover started this season for high Single-A Potomac and pitched for Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse before joining the Nationals.

Just last season he pitched for NCAA Division I Oklahoma State, got drafted in the eighth round by the Nationals, and then pitched for short-season Single-A Auburn and low Single-A Hagerstown.

Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson told me last week on "Nats Insider" on 106.7 The Fan about the impression Glover brought to the club when he arrived with the Suns: an intense, unparalleled attitude that Anderson hadn't seen very often.

"He's one of those kids that's no-nonsense," Anderson said. "We were playing in West Virginia (Pirates organization), and they had this kid (Michael Suchy). We were only allowed to have (Glover) go the seventh and eighth innings, not getting into being a closer, because we didn't want a lot of stressful innings early on in his career. And then we would work him in to being a closer."

Anderson pointed towards a game last season where they had taken Glover out before he could face Suchy.

"He comes in there throwing 95, 96 and tops out at 99 mph and he got two innings pretty clean, and we got a double play to get out of one inning," Anderson remembered. "They had this big, strong kid named Suchy, a very stout young man, on deck. And the next inning, he led off. We went with left-hander Robert Orlan, now with Potomac, to finish off the game.

"But we looked down in the dugout (during the ninth inning) and Glover was staring down (Suchy), and going, 'I want that guy.' The point was the mentality of this kid is there is no fear in him, and he wants the best player, the best opportunity."

Glover remembers the reason why he wanted to face Suchy in that situation.

"He hit a bomb off one of my teammates," Glover recalled. "He kind of pimped it. I really wanted to get him and stuff, but they took me out before I could get to him.

"They took me out and I came in the dugout. They could tell something was wrong and they looked at me.

"I said I wanted to (expletive) face that guy."

Glover said it was nothing personal with Suchy; he was just motivated to face the power hitter.

"I think he's a pretty good dude," Glover said. "He's just a big guy. He plays baseball how you should. He hit a home run and he pimped it. That's baseball. I wanted to face him.

"It's hard to get locked in when you're not facing big-name guys. When you face big-name guys, you get more locked in. Suchy is one of those guys. He's a stud. He had like 20 home runs, so I wanted to face him."

Glover compared that moment with what he is going through now, looking to bounce back after giving up a couple of home runs in his last two appearances. He said you have to bring the same stuff facing a batter you may not be that familiar with just as you would against those big-name guys or a hitter you have some history facing.

"You got to attack every guy," Glover said. "Just cause you don't know the guy or like he's a rookie or whatever the case may be, even if he's hitting .190. Ryan Howard is hitting .190 and he's got stupid power. You look up, you see the stats and you got to make sure you still attack him the same way you would Barry Bonds."

Glover said having manager Dusty Baker talk to him yesterday after allowing the home runs didn't erase his disappointment. But, in discussions with others, like pitching coach Mike Maddux, he realized that he also is allowed to take a second to appreciate how far he has come in a matter of 13 months.

"No, it doesn't make me feel better," Glover said. "I just got to do my job. What helped me was people have sat me down and reminded me that I was drafted last year. I hadn't really thought about that. I haven't really stepped back and looked at this and all this experience. They drafted me last year, this is my first full year, I went from high-A to the big leagues in a matter of months, so I'm not worried about it anymore. I'm going to let it fuel me."

Glover understands now what Maddux has been preaching. Hitters get paid too, and sometimes you will allow a home run.

"Nobody does," Glover said of the lack of enjoyment in giving up homers. "But it's going to happen. It happens to everybody."

And this is not the first time Glover has battled through adversity this season. On Aug. 20, Glover allowed the Braves' Jace Peterson's RBI double that opened the door to a three-run bottom of the ninth in a game the Nationals held on to win 11-9.

"You can't be afraid. I've ran into a couple of bad outings and some failure," Glover concluded. "You got to accept the failure and let it fuel me. I ran into a little speed bump in Atlanta this year too and after that I've pretty much been doing my job, getting guys out. And then you hit another speed bump and it sets you back a bit. You just got to go forward."

* The Nationals have extended their player development contracts with short-season Single-A Auburn and high Single-A Potomac through the 2018 season. This means the organization now has player development contracts solidified for every affiliate through 2018.

President of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo commented on the extensions through 2018 season in a club-issued release:

"We are really pleased to have extended our contracts with both of these affiliates," Rizzo said. "Auburn and Potomac have been great homes for our players and these clubs play such an important role in developing our players and shaping the future of the Washington Nationals. Some of our most exciting major league players spent time learning their craft at each of these affiliates, and we couldn't do what we do at the big league level without them."

Auburn has been within the Nats organization since 2010 and the P-Nats have been an affiliate since 2005.