September 24, 2023
Right-handed pitcher Zach Thompson was acquired in January from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for outfield prospect Chavez Young. Thompson, who had one year remaining on his contract before hitting free agency found consistency during the 2023 season.
“Finding consistency was my biggest takeaway this season,” stated Thompson. “I worked with Pete Walker a little bit during spring training and the pitching coach and bullpen coach in Buffalo. We’ve really tried to hone in on making my delivery a little bit simpler, moving in the right directions, etc. I’ve falling off some with my mechanics so I definitely worked on consistency.”
Having Thompson as a depth pitching option was a luxury for the Blue Jays, as the righty has logged 196 2/3 big league innings in his career.
“It’s a big learning experience,” Thompson said of the majors . “It’s something that I don’t think you can experience from unless you’re up there. There are a lot of things that teams could tell you that you will learn down in Triple-A – but that’s really not the case. There are a lot of things that you have to fail and succeed with up in the big leagues in order to have that.”
Thompson uses a five-pitch mix of: a 4-seam fastball, a sinking fastball, a cutter, a curveball, and a changeup.
He uses the cutter more than any other pitch, “I didn’t really know how to use the cutter properly until I got up to the Marlins in 2021,” explained Thompson. “We really started focusing on how we use it to set up hitters. Using it with the fastball in certain spots and certain counts. It’s my most used pitch now.”
The righty will be available for a potential playoff push for the Blue Jays’ before hitting the free agent market.
Whether, Zach Thompson re-signs with Toronto or not, may he have a big 2024 season.