Ludwig Glaser

From BR Bullpen

Ludwig Glaser

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Ludwig Glaser is an infielder who signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization in 2007 and debuted in the minors in 2008. He has spent a decade with the German national team.

He hit .316/.409/.526 but with four errors in five games in the 2003 European Junior Championship. In the 2004 World Junior Championship, Glaser batted .154/.214/.154 with five errors in four games as Germany's third baseman. Glaser debuted in Bundesliga's 1st division in 2005. From 2005-2007, he hit .319/.384/.445. As the regular third baseman for the 2007 Regensburg Legionäre, he batted .330/.394/.485 but fielded just .868 at third base. He was signed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2007. He was added to the German national team for the 2007 Baseball World Cup but was just 1 for 9 with a walk and three strikeouts. He was with Germany for the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, batting .167/.211/.167 as their primary DH.

Glaser was the 4th German minor leaguer to debut in 2008, a record (Jennell Hudson, Donald Lutz and Kai Gronauer had all debuted earlier). He did not play a game until July 3 for the AZL Angels due to injuries from spring training, hitting 8th and playing DH against the AZL Brewers that day. He went 1 for 3 with a walk, double and RBI in a good debut in the US. He hit .222/.302/.306 in 11 games and fielded .955 at third base.

Glaser was released before the 2009 season began and returned to the Legionäre. He hit .378/.458/.511 for them. He was among the Bundesliga-1 South leaders in average (4th, between Mike Larson and Ray Stokes), RBI (3rd, 27, behind Marvin Appiah and Ryan Lilly), hits (tied for 3rd with 34), doubles (5th, 7), slugging (9th), OBP (tied for 8th with Edward Martinez), OPS (10th) and fielding at 1B (.992, 1st, .004 ahead of Jens Heymer). He fielded only .871 in 11 games at 3B, splitting his time closely between 1B and 3B. In the 2009 European Cup, he starred for Regensburg, hitting .412/.500/.824 with 5 runs and 5 RBI, though he fielded .882. He was second in average (.088 behind Maikel Benner) and slugging (.085 behind Fausto Alvarez), tied Giuseppe Mazzanti and Kenji Hagiwara for third in OBP and tied Klaus Hopfensperger for the most total bases (14). In the 2009 Baseball World Cup, he started at first for Germany and went 3 for 13 with a run and a RBI while playing error-free ball.

Ludwig's batting line for Regensburg in 2010 was .355/.462/.551. He tied for 5th in the league with 4 homers, tied Jakub Voják for 3rd in RBI (30), tied for 5th in runs (30), tied Larson for 4th in walks (20), had the 3rd-lowest strikeout rate (3 K in 107 AB, worse only than Petr Čech and Chris Beck) and was second in fielding percentage at 3B (.958, .020 behind Robert Gruber). In the postseason, he hit .417/.508/.563 with 12 runs and 13 RBI as his team won it all; he led the team in OPS and RBI in the postseason. In the 2010 European Championship, he helped Germany win their first medal in 35 years (a Bronze). He hit .379/.500/.517 with 9 RBI in 8 games. He tied Dominik Wulf for the team lead in RBI, tied Wulf and Simon Gühring for the most hits (11) and led the team in doubles (4) and walks (6). Playing 1B, he handled 73 chances error-free. Against Pool C, the top six teams, he was even better - .471 (tied for 5th in the Euros with Danny Rombley) with a .609 OBP (3rd behind Raily Legito and Cedric Bassel) and tied for second in RBI (7, two behind Jairo Ramos Gizzi).

He hit .383/.446/.468 in 2011, finishing 5th in average (between Ty Eriksen and Max Boldt), was 4th with 36 hits (between Matt Vance and Čech) and tied for 3rd in RBI. He fielded .924 at 3B. He hit .283/.340/.326 in the postseason but played flawless D at the hot corner (37 chances) as the team won a repeat championship. He struggled on both ends of the ball in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, hitting .182/.217/.227 with one run and no RBI in 7 games. Manning third, he fielded only .700, with five errors (four in a 5-4 loss to Nicaragua, letting in three of the five runs). He was third in the event in errors, behind fellow third basemen Saúl Torres and Mike Tonis.

The Frankfurt native was even better in the 2012 Bundesliga - .413/.521/.620 at the plate, fielding .943 at third. He was 3rd in average (the highest of a German native), tied Christopher Howard for 6th in RBI (27), tied Jeff Beachum and Vance for third in hits (38), tied for 5th in runs (31), tied Hagen Rätz and Peter Johannessen for 3rd in walks (23), was 5th in slugging (between Vance and Evan LeBlanc) and was 5th in OBP (between Aaron Hornostaj and Gavin Ng). In the 2012 European Cup, he was again a leader for Regensburg, hitting .350/.435/.500 with 3 RBI and 3 steals (in 4 tries) in five games, a two-run homer off Keino Perez the biggest blow. He fielded .923. He tied Enzo Sanna for 6th in the Cup in slugging, tied for 3rd in hits (7), tied Gessmann and Howard for the home run lead (1), tied Howard and Oscar Angulo for second in total bases (10) and tied for third in steals. He struggled in the 2012 European Championship at .160/.207/.320, fielding .977 as a 1B-3B. He did hit a two-run shot off Spain's Eric González in the 3rd/4th place game but Germany lost a 8-6 decision. He backed up Lutz at 1B for Germany in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, getting two at-bats late in blow-out wins. He singled off Jan Novák and scored in a win over the Czech Republic and flew out against Great Britain's Estevenson Encarnacion.

The Frankfurt native put up a .350/.441/.530 line in 2013 with 31 runs and 32 RBI in 25 games, fielding .970, with all but one of his games coming at third. He was third in the loop in RBI (behind Gühring and Josh Petersen), 9th in hits (35), 6th in runs and 10th in OBP. Regensburg won their third straight title. In the 2013 European Cup, he again had a strong European Cup, hitting .333 with a .417 OBP (though no extra-base hits) and scoring four runs in five games, while fielding .941. He tied Vance and Percy Isenia for the lead with two sacrifice flies.

In 2014, Glaser produced at a .392/.507/.627 clip with 33 runs and 38 RBI in 28 contests. He led the league in RBI, was 6th in hits (40), 3rd in average, 5th in runs (between Jamie McOwen and Philipp Howard), tied Larson for 5th in walks (23), was 9th in slugging (between LeBlanc and Spencer Kuehn) and 6th in OBP (between Vance and LeBlanc). He fielded .917 at third. In the postseason, he hit .333/.471/.519 but Regensburg's run of titles ended. He batted .474/.565/.579 and fielded .875 in the 2014 European Cup. He finished that event third in average (behind Leonardo Zileri and Urving Kemp), tied Gyenuar Lopez for sixth in slugging, was second in OBP (.174 behind Zileri), tied Philipp Howard and Gianison Boekhoudt for 7th in runs (5), tied Urving Kemp and Dwayne Kemp for second in hits (9), tied for 4th in doubles (2) and tied for fifth in total bases (11). He was Germany's second-best hitter in the 2014 European Championship, with a batting line of .367/.444/.567, 6 doubles and six RBI in eight games, while fielding .966 and playing third. He led the Euros in doubles, two ahead of Jakub Malik, Kalian Sams and Angulo.

At age 27, Glaser hit .395/.456/.622 with 37 runs and 37 RBI in 28 games. He tied Vance for second in the league in runs, was 3rd in RBI (after McOwen and Gühring), was third in doubles (13, after Boldt and Aaron Dunsmore), was 3rd in hits (47, after Dunsmore and Petersen), was 8th in average (between Jay Pecci and Gühring), ranked 9th in slugging (between McOwen and Boldt), placed 10th in OBP and finished 9th in OPS (between Dunsmore and McOwen). His .961 fielding percentage at 3B was second, .002 behind Petersen; he also played 8 games at 1B. He hit .354/.475/.458 with 11 runs in 13 games in the postseason as the Legionäre reached the finals only to fall in the decisive contest.

In March 2016, he was with Germany for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Starting at third base, he went 3 for 8 with a double, run and RBI. Only Bruce Maxwell had a better OPS for Germany. Against Nicaragua, his tenth-inning double off Jhonny Polanco scored Lutz to put the Germans ahead, 4-3. He was stranded and Germany allowed two runs in the bottom of the inning to blow a potential upset.

Sources[edit]

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