Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man: Zach Thompson
Zach Thompson #ZachThompson
Zach Thompson is a 29-year-old right-handed pitcher. Not to be confused with Zack Thompson, a 26-year-old left-handed pitcher.
Zach came to us from the Pirates in trade for Chavez Young. I hoped Young would hit a little better and become our fourth or fifth outfielder. With his speed and defense he could be useful if he could hit a little. But he’s 25 now and was unlikely to get a chance with the Jays, but maybe the Pirates will give him a chance.
The Jays will be Zach’s third team in three seasons. He was a Marlin in 2021 and had a pretty decent rookie season, with a 3.24 ERA in 26 games, 14 starts. Batters hit .227/.301/.374 against him.
Last year, with the Pirates, he went 3-10 with a 5.18 ERA in 29 games, 22 starts. Batters hit .280/.344/.446 with 19 home runs in 543 PA.
What is the difference between the two seasons? Well, Thompson’s strikeout dropped from 21.0% to 16.6%. And more of the fly balls left the park, 14.5% in 2022, 7.1% in 2021.
He throws a bunch of pitches. Last year he threw a cutter (33.3% of the time), a curve (20.9%). slider (20.7%), four-seam fastball (16.6%) and changeup (8.5%).
Zach doesn’t throw all that hard, averaging 92.4 MPH on his fastball. He’s a big guy, 6’7”, 250, so I took it for granted that he threw harder.
Another thing I’ve been taking for granted is that the fifth starter job will go to White or Kikuchi, but Thompson may have an outside chance at getting the spot. But Thompson has three option years left, so he’s likely to start the season in Buffalo.
Steamer thinks that Zach will be pitching out of the bullpen. It sees him pitching in 34 games, 2 starts for 41.0 innings with a 4.36 ERA.
It is tough to guess what will happen with Thompson. He was picked up to add to our depth, but as we’ve seen, the Jays always seem to use all their depth (and then some). Since Thompson has 3 option years left, we’ll likely have him as depth for the next three years.