The Phillies announced this afternoon that they have designated righty Jake Thompson for assignment. His roster spot will go to the just-acquired Justin Bour.
Once a prospect of note, Thompson came to Philadelphia as part of the Cole Hamels swap. He has not yet established himself in the majors, however, despite seeing action in each of the past three seasons.
Thompson has shifted to a relief role this season after almost exclusively working as a starter previously. The former second-rounder owns a 4.87 ERA in 116 1/3 MLB innings with 6.3 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.
Though his velocity and swinging-strike rate have trended up a bit since the move to the pen, the recent numbers don’t paint a terribly promising picture for the 24-year-old. Thompson has handed out eleven walks in 16 1/3 MLB frames this year and carries a 4.60 ERA in his 47 Triple-A frames.
Guess the rangers or padres have a new reclamation project
I honestly wouldn’t mind the Braves taking him on, and working him at AAA in a bullpen role.
The Braves pitching coordinators have been able to work some serious magic when it comes to pitchers who struggle with their command. A relatively new role, a new change of scenery, and some new coaches to provide Thompson with some new insight may just very well be the trick to helping him revitalize his once promising career..
Atlanta, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Oakland, Los Angeles (NL), and Chicago (NL) are all six very promising landing spots for Thompson. I strongly believe those six franchises all have what it takes to help him turn things around.
Now, that is not to say he couldn’t be successful elsewhere, but I think history dictates that those six franchises all consistently work well with talented pitchers who struggle with their command..
Now, I know Pirates’ fans will probably get all pissy for me leaving Pittsburgh and Searage out, but I honestly think Searage is a bit overhyped…Not to say he isn’t a good pitching coach, because he is, but he just isn’t the miracle worker that a lot of casual baseball fans think..
One of the main reasons a fan is able to come up with a fairly decent list of his success projects, it isn’t because he’s THAT great of a pitching coach, it’s simply due to the fact that Pittsburgh generally takes on quite a few more reclamation projects compared to their peers..
He has successes and failures like everyone. Your post seems to be a gratuitous slap at Searage, whose name by the way was only brought up by you.
Uhhhhhhh st Louis would turn him around too. Not just your precious braves.
Something serious regressed in Thompson. His slider is still a plus pitch and he’ll turn it around. I’m sad it won’t be with the Phils but he has a future in someone’s pen.
No, his slider is not plus. Hasn’t been for a couple of years.
The Padres make a ton of sense here.
AJ Preller was in Texas’s front office when Thompson was drafted so you’d have to figure there is at least some history there.
Not to mention with Phil Hughes accompanying a bullpen spot, it shouldn’t be hard to DFA him and pick up Thompson. The Padres got Grant Little from the money that was tied to Hughes with the #76 pick in the draft, that’s enough. Cut bait and move on, no point in trying to wait to see if you can salvage anything from Hughes, he is toast.
Thompson was drafted by Detroit
Thompson was drafted by the Tigers under Dombrowski. Went to Texas with Corey Knebel for Joakim Soria in 2014
I believe they’ve already cut bait with Hughes…But, either way, Thompson would be a good reclamation project for the Padres.
He is a bat-hitter. Lost velocity. Pitches behind in count. No put-away pitch. How he was ever a top 100 guy I can’t figure out.
He reached AAA and had a lot of success at 22 years old. Top 100 prospects bust too. That’s how it goes. On another note, the phils return for Hamels didn’t turn out so hot. Alfaro the K machine, Nick Williams, DFA’d Thompson and Eickhoff. Eick was the least regarded and has had the best career to date. Even though his future is very uncertain now.
Alfaro is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. Williams is a solid OF who can play multiple positions, and he’s still developing Thompson may still stick with the Phillies in AAA if he accepts an outright assignment, and Eickoff is a decent 4 pitcher. Jamel’s hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since he left PHL anyway.
That was a dumb comment. Williams showing he is a everyday player. Alfaro one of the best catchers in baseball and be is still developing and probably has a top 5 arm
I wouldn’t call Alfaro one of the best catchers in baseball yet. Top defensive? For sure. But not overall.
Buddy if Jorge Alfaro was one of the best catchers in baseball the Phillies wouldn’t have gotten Wilson ramos. I don’t watch nick Williams play the Of regularly but his offensive value is almost completely offset by his poor D metrics. Alfaro has a .401 BABIP to put up the slash line he currently has. The Phillies don’t believe in that. If Eick comes back into form then the deal looks a whole lot better. Hamels was a highly regarded player at that time
alfaro has an absolute cannon but the rest of his defensive game is questionable.
Texas traded Alfaro out of a concern that his defense and pitch calling wouldn’t progress to a high enough level. He has always has the gun and has been a hitter.
He owns 9 of the 10 hardest thrown balls on caught stealing attempts and has the hardest recorded in the stat cast era… 92.5 mph
You site an inflated BABIP which is fair.
You fail to mention that after just turning 25 Alf has the best arm behind the plate in all of the MLB. He is also a solid framer for his age. He should only get better at that as he enters his prime. His main issue is passed balls (Knapp as well) which is why the Phillies got Ramos. This should also improve.
Williams is on his way to proving himself. Hit .311 in July and .296 since the all star break. Between him and Alfaro that trade was an absolute success.
Yeah, I think you have to look at it as a success for both sides. At the time, the Rangers needed a reliable, TOR arm, and they got one in Hamels..
And unlike most of those big trades, Philly actually got a lot of talent back, that’s propelled them to reaching a competitive level earlier than expected.
The majority of 4 for 1 trades, generally speaking, they don’t work out all that well for the team receiving the 4 players. Maybe 1 of the guys works out well, but rarely do you ever see a team getting back 3 LEGIT ML starters!! Eickoff has been a steady contributor, and a pretty good BOR arm for the Phillies, Alfaro is a young, up and coming, and very talented catcher, and Nick Williams has progressed to the point of becoming a very talented and promising hitter in the middle of their line-up.
It was definitely a huge win for the Phillies, and if they win the division this year, one of the main reasons will be because of the return from that trade..
I wouldn’t say the Hamels trade was lost. It’s not like he’s been healthy/very effective the past few years, and Williams, Alfaro, and Eick could all still be useful.
Jeff, can you tell the newer writers to include the bb/9 in addition to the k/9 when writing about pitchers, they usually instead include k/bb in addition to k/9 and it is very irritating and a departure from how you guys had been doing it.
Irritating? You sound fun.
@ Orioles. Jhan Marinez can be DFA’d.
Rangers will claim him
I hope the Rangers get Thompson and return him to the rotation. At 24 he is not done. The Phillies paid all of Hamels remaining salary the year of the deal ($10mm) to include Thompson in the deal.
Rangers need arms for sure.
And have time to be patient for them to develop. Philly is in a different position now.
If they get the chance. I would love for Texas to attempt a low level trade just to make sure instead of hoping he “gets through” the other teams.
Phillies screwed this up big time
how, exactly?
Profound comment without evidence.
Thompson will figure it out in his age 33 season playing ball in some independent league. He has AAA talent .
Did Thompson crap in your Captain Crunch or something??
Good lord…lol
Well, some guys simply can’t make the jump to the Majors. Thompson looks to be one of them. However, I’ll still hold out hope he carve out a spot on someone’s roster.