SP Zach Thompson DFA’d

[sportsfan8703]

He was DFAd by the Pirates. Still has all of his options remaining. He had a good 2021 season with Miami. His numbers suggest he was a little unlucky last year with Pitt. His stuff looks decent, but I’ll defer to the people that can read into that more like @Tony-OH 

I could see us having some interest here. He’d be a depth guy along the lines of Spenser Watkins. It’s all about the deep depth and avoiding having Baumann or Zimmerman make any starts this year.  I’d rather have him than Gillaspie on the 40 man. We could probably trade our old friend cash considerations for him. 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/zach-thompson/16094/stats?position=P

[interloper]

Yeah, I like it. I might even take him over Zimmermann on the 40 as a SP depth guy. 

[btdart20]

Movement wise, his best pitch is his sinker.  He threw it more last year than in 2021, but it was not his primary pitch.  Solid CH already.  Average velo.  Solid GB rate.  Interestingly, his K% increased as he was promoted over the years but is average at the MLB level.  Most concerning is BB% isn't very good.  If his stuff was better, he could be a guy who could benefit from throwing to the heart of the plate.

Potential paths to improvement - pitch sequencing (throwing his best pitch more?), learning Holt's SL.

But I don't think he has enough stuff to go after.  

[sportsfan8703]

We are where we are. It’s key for us this year to limit the number of games started by Baumann, Zimmerman, or an emergency spot starter. Thompson would be another Watkins basically. Thompson’s projections aren’t that bad. I’m all about improving depth. 
 

Rotation - Gibson, GR, Bradish, Kremer, Voth/Wells

Depth - Voth/Wells

AAA - Watkins, Zimmerman, Baumann, Hall

IL - Means

[Tony-OH]

4 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

He was DFAd by the Pirates. Still has all of his options remaining. He had a good 2021 season with Miami. His numbers suggest he was a little unlucky last year with Pitt. His stuff looks decent, but I’ll defer to the people that can read into that more like @Tony-OH 

I could see us having some interest here. He’d be a depth guy along the lines of Spenser Watkins. It’s all about the deep depth and avoiding having Baumann or Zimmerman make any starts this year.  I’d rather have him than Gillaspie on the 40 man. We could probably trade our old friend cash considerations for him. 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/zach-thompson/16094/stats?position=P

I went and took a look at his stuff and stats and I kinda like him as starting pitching depth. The curveball is a real nice swing and miss pitch and the change can be good as well. 

He makes way too many mistakes with the sinker and doesn't throw hard enough to get away with those mistakes. He might want to ditch that pitch and be more of a cutter, 4-seam, curveball, change guy. 

There is no doubt I'd take him over Gillaspie, Cano, Krehbiel and Politi on the 40-man.

[btdart20]

27 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I went and took a look at his stuff and stats and I kinda like him as starting pitching depth. The curveball is a real nice swing and miss pitch and the change can be good as well. 

He makes way too many mistakes with the sinker and doesn't throw hard enough to get away with those mistakes. He might want to ditch that pitch and be more of a cutter, 4-seam, curveball, change guy. 

There is no doubt I'd take him over Gillaspie, Cano, Krehbiel and Politi on the 40-man.

I need to go back and look at his sinker because I had the opposite take on that pitch.  The sinker had the best movement and best run value and his cutter/4S has a worse xSLG in 2022.  

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I went and took a look at his stuff and stats and I kinda like him as starting pitching depth. The curveball is a real nice swing and miss pitch and the change can be good as well. 

He makes way too many mistakes with the sinker and doesn't throw hard enough to get away with those mistakes. He might want to ditch that pitch and be more of a cutter, 4-seam, curveball, change guy. 

There is no doubt I'd take him over Gillaspie, Cano, Krehbiel and Politi on the 40-man.

Thanks. I see another Spenser Watkins type and not in a negative way, considering what Watkins gave us last year. Politi and Gillaspie should go for SP depth. I get we want to bring Politi to ST, but he has no options. 
 

The offseason hasn’t been a HR, but we are improving the depth and filling weaknesses. This would further do both. 

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, btdart20 said:

I need to go back and look at his sinker because I had the opposite take on that pitch.  The sinker had the best movement and best run value and his cutter/4S has a worse xSLG in 2022.  

It's not the movement, it's the location. He gets some real good movement at times, but go look at pitch locations on baseball savant and take a look at hits allowed for sinkers. Way too many in the upper portion of the zone. 

[SteveA]

Blue Jays traded for Thompson.   They sent Pittsburgh AAA OF Chavez Young.

[sportsfan8703]

Toronto is a smart and proactive organization. Elias is too risk adverse. 

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Blue Jays traded for Thompson.   They sent Pittsburgh AAA OF Chavez Young.

Interesting. That's not much of a return. I wonder if there is more to this story on why Thompson was DFA'd. Honestly I would have traded for him and given up something more than Young. for a possible 5th starter, depth guy who might even be a decent long guy. I liked the stuff minus that sinker that he leaves in the middle of the plate too much.

[sportsfan8703]

A great chance to add depth. Chavez Young is about the equivalent to Adam Hall. Missed opportunity here to add some SP depth. Heck, we could’ve traded Politi the Rule 5 guy. He doesn’t really have a place here after Givens signed.