The Padres announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Trayce Thompson from Triple-A El Paso and placed fellow outfielder Wil Myers on the 10-day IL due to a left thumb injury. Righty Austin Adams was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to open a 40-man roster spot for Thompson.
Thompson, 31, is a former second-round pick (White Sox, 2009) and the younger brother of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson. He’s appeared in parts of five big league seasons, most recently logging 15 games and 35 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2021. Thompson impressed in that small sample of work, hitting .250/.400/.714 with four homers and a pair of steals — flashing the tools that once made him a lofty draft pick and a well-regarded prospect.
Of course, those tools haven’t translated into production at the big league level regularly enough. Thompson has tallied 624 plate appearances in the Majors but has just a .208/.283/.405 batting line to show for it. He’s homered 26 times and swiped 11 bags (in 13 tries) as a big leaguer, but Thompson has also been far too prone to strikeouts. He’s whiffed in 28.2% of his plate appearances, and his penchant for punchouts has worsened over the years; after posting a strong rookie season with the ChiSox back in 2015, Thompson has fanned in nearly 31% of his trips to the plate while hitting .184/.260/.370.
That said, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t earned an opportunity with his early-season work. In his first 16 games and 65 plate appearances with the Chihuahuas, Thompson has batted .316/.385/.860 with a jaw-dropping nine home runs. He’s added four doubles and a stolen base for good measure. Those numbers overwhelmingly outpace Thompson’s career .233/.303/.447 output in parts of seven Triple-A seasons, but there’s no denying the intrigue surrounding that blistering start.
As for Myers, he’ll head to the 10-day IL after opening the season in a .218/.254/.273 funk at the plate. That sloth-like start comes on the heels of a solid 2020-21 run at the plate, and it’s fair to say the thumb injury has contributed to his struggles. Myers originally incurred the injury during an at-bat two weeks ago and has been held out of the lineup on multiple occasions in an effort to let it heal. His placement on the injured list is retroactive to yesterday, so he’ll be eligible to return a week from Saturday.
Adams, meanwhile, is dealing with a forearm strain and was recently shut down from throwing for six weeks. It’s generally unsurprising to see him now transferred to the 60-day IL. That 60-day window begins with the day he was originally placed on the IL, not with today’s transfer, meaning he’s eligible to return in 50 days’ time. The 30-year-old righty has a 3.97 ERA and a very strong 31.8% strikeout rate in 59 innings with San Diego dating back to 2020, but he’s also walked 15% of his opponents in that time.
If the Giants can do it with smoke and mirrors and solid pitching, so can the Pads
The Giants. LOL
Rent free.
The Padres. LOL
So Thompson is the best the Padres can come up with? Their OF is in horrible shape.
Jurickson Profar is actually having a fantastic start to his season. He hit his 5th homer yesterday.
Yes, Trent Grisham, Wil Myers, and backup Matt Beatty are struggling. Rookie Jose Asocar has been good in only 16 PAs.
Trayce Thompson was raking in El Paso. EP is a very hitting friendly environment, and Thompson had a horrible spring training.
Though Beaty has been worse, Grisham has been struggling for a long time, they may need to grow impatient soon
Grisham had his struggles in the minors with the Brewers as well. 2020 kinda feels like an outlier year.
Their current OF situation seems a lot like their 2021 starting pitching fiasco. Total lack of depth and you end up running Jake Arietta out there to start games. AJ Preller likes to spend owners money and ask questions later.
#rockstargm
The Padres have Yu Darvinsh so they already got the solid pithcing
Adams has walked 15% and hit another 16% which basically equals his K rate of +/- 31%. Simple math. Go get ’em Trayce!
Mac Williamson type beat. Changes one thing in his swing, rakes in the minors, gets called up, gets hurt, then we never hear from them again.
Nope. Not a trace
Still kicking huh. Nice
His Father played for the Lakers. He now does radio for the Lakers
Padres are going to have to acquire a utility type to address some position player depth issues. I think Chad Pinder would make a bunch of sense.
They really need someone who can play both IF and OF because aside from the OF issues, Abrams needs to go back to the minors and get some extra seasoning. Current roster construction and lack of a utility piece is basically forcing them to carry their top prospect on the MLB team when he needs another season of minor league ABs.
They need to add an established OF this year and next, as they transition to 2024 OF: Hassell III, James Wood, Joshua Mears and maybe by then, Samuel Zavala
That was supposed to be Profar, but Preller messed up, didn’t get a proper outfielder, so now we have the outfield we have and no utility guy to cover. Could have seen Themis coming a mile away.
*This (not Themis)
Was wondering if Themis was a hot prospect I didn’t know about
Least Myers is only for this season. Then the Padres can finally tell his sorry behind to hit the road.
So many Padres fans are in love with him (and Kim and Profar), but then complain that we don’t make the playoffs. Go figure!
Austin Adam’s, brother of Steve.
Trayce Thompson needs to be on the Giants and he would become a superstar. McCovey Cove would witness a new Splash Brother.