Phillies: Whatever happened to starter Jake Thompson?
By John Town
Jake Thompson was once the top pitching prospect in the Phillies farm system but now he seems entirely out of the conversation.
The Phillies have used nine different starters this season with all the injuries they have suffered this season. They have summoned several starters from the minors to replace injured pitchers, but one that hasn’t been called up to fill in the rotation is Jake Thompson.
Thompson was called up earlier this season, but it was only to provide relief to a battered and worn-down bullpen. He was back to the minors with less than a week.
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The lack of attention given to Thompson is striking considering how he started off with Philadelphia. He came to the team as one of the three highly-regarded prospects in the Cole Hamels trade along with Nick Williams and Jorge Alfaro. While Williams and Alfaro are still at the top of the prospect conversation, Thompson has fallen off the map.
Thompson was the team’s No. 3 prospect heading into the 2016 season according to Baseball America.
He posted a 2.50 ERA in 21 starts before being called up to the majors. When he was promoted, Thompson managed a poor 5.70 ERA with a 1.51 WHIP in 10 starts.
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This season Thompson hasn’t been any better with a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A this year. He started off the season by giving up nine earned runs and has given up more than four runs in seven of his 15 starts. Thompson has struggled with his control this year, walking 8.4% of opposing hitters.
Considering his struggles at Triple-A this year, its hard to imagine the team wanting to promote Thompson to the rotation even though he is on the 40-man roster. Ben Lively and Nick Pivetta were both far more deserving a promotion than Thompson.
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At this point, it’s hard to imagine Thompson as anything more than a reliever at the major-league level. It’s a far fall from the mid-rotation we were sold on when Thompson came to the Phils from the Rangers, but its the best we can hope for at this point.