Daryl Thompson

[Homer Bailey]

Not my work. From the poster AccuRater who can't start threads, posted it in the site feedback, so I thought I would share it here.

Originally Posted by AccuRater
Louisville is in Rochester for a four game series starting tonight (June 14). When we heard that Daryl Thompson was pitching we decided to make the 90 mile trip from Syracuse. He did not disappoint. His fastball was consistently in the 91-94 mph range. The gun showed 95 a couple of times and 97 once. Command of his fastball was good, not great. But when he missed, he usually missed low. This is a good thing if he is to be successful at GABP. I was surprised at how often he went with his off speed assortment. I’d guess that of the 110 pitches he threw, well under half were fastballs. He had excellent command of his off-speed pitches which added to the effectiveness of his fastball. Rochester batters were off balance most of the night. When they weren’t missing, they were grounding out. He gave up 5 hits, 1 run, no home runs and struck out 6 in 8 2/3 innings while walking only 2. The run and one of the hits resulted from a misplayed fly ball that Norris Hopper should have caught. In the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th innings, Rochester batters did not hit any balls out of the infield. I was surprised to see him back out in the 9th since he already had thrown about 100 pitches through 8 innings. Perhaps Dusty’s strategy of abusing young pitchers has filtered down through the organization and has become official Reds policy. He was still strong but relied more on his fastball. It was still in the 93-94 mph range but he got away with missing high a couple of times. It appeared that he was over throwing, something he did not do in the earlier innings. After he walked a batter on a 3-2 count, he was taken out in favor of Josh Roenicke and his 95-96 mph heater. Louisville won 4-1. A couple of other observations: Jeff Keppinger started at 3rd base. He singled in the 1st and laid down a very nice sacrifice bunt in the 5th. He made the routine plays at 3rd and appeared to be running OK. He was pulled for a pinch hitter in the 9th. No indication of an injury. I’m not sure why he was taken out. Ryan Hanigan homered. He seems more comfortable at the plate.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Thompson at GABP this year.

[dougdirt]

Interesting note about missing low with his fastball. Last start he missed up consistently and he got absolutely lit up. Last nights start was impressive for Thompson. Hopefully there are a lot more just like it.

[Spring~Fields]

That was an impressive outing for Thompson, with the impressive reporting by AccuRater also. I will have to keep an eye on both.

I really like this Thompson, what's not to like so far? He seems to be growing with each start at each level.

[Tony Cloninger]

Great to hear. Paranoia about Dusty pitching influence?

Maybe they wanted to see how much workload he can take....at least once.

I do not think 100-110 is bad....if you are consistently at 120...then it turns into a problem.

[HokieRed]

I'd prefer to see him never over 100 again this year. No point in doing that to him at AAA.

[SarasotaFan]

I'd prefer to see him never over 100 again this year. No point in doing that to him at AAA.

so it's ok at the big league level and not at AAA ??

[Will M]

22 years old. Tore up AA & AAA. Struggled in three big league starts.

Has movement on his pitches. Good control in the minors.
Three ( ? four ) pitches.

I keep reading that he is '4th starter material'. After 3 starts?
Just because he doesn't throw 97 mph doesn't mean that Thompson or any pitcher can't be a star. Hitting the corners, changing speeds & late movement on pitches are key. I don't think thompson throws any slower than a lot of HOF pitchers.

I'd like to see him back here before the end of 2008. Either called up after 9/1 or he could pitch some middle relief.

Where did the love go?

[dougdirt]

I think you see the #3/#4 type of stuff with Thompson because he doesn't really have a plus pitch, is a short right hander and has a major shoulder surgery under his belt. His control is erratic at times still. When he has it, he is real good. When he doesn't he is going to get absolutely drilled. He is young, still a VERY good prospect. Still, I don't know if I see him ever being more than a solid #3 starter in the majors and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Will M]

I think you see the #3/#4 type of stuff with Thompson because he doesn't really have a plus pitch, is a short right hander and has a major shoulder surgery under his belt. His control is erratic at times still. When he has it, he is real good. When he doesn't he is going to get absolutely drilled. He is young, still a VERY good prospect. Still, I don't know if I see him ever being more than a solid #3 starter in the majors and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I understand about the post surgical concerns.

As to being a short righthander I understand the arguement but don't buy it.

Does Harang have a 'plus pitch'? Did Glavine? Maddux? I would think if a pitcher has a fastball with late movement, a good curve or slider and a good change up that is all he needs to be successful IF he can hits the spots and mix up his pitches.

I really liked the movement he had on his pitches. Coffey, Belisle & Elizardo all have the same problem-their fastball is a low 90s straightball. Thompson's has movement.

I agree with you that he is still a very good prospect. It just seems odd to be that he is yesterdays news in a lost of fans eyes because he didn't light up the world at age 22.

[dougdirt]

I understand about the post surgical concerns.

As to being a short righthander I understand the arguement but don't buy it.

Does Harang have a 'plus pitch'? Did Glavine? Maddux? I would think if a pitcher has a fastball with late movement, a good curve or slider and a good change up that is all he needs to be successful IF he can hits the spots and mix up his pitches.

I really liked the movement he had on his pitches. Coffey, Belisle & Elizardo all have the same problem-their fastball is a low 90s straightball. Thompson's has movement.

I agree with you that he is still a very good prospect. It just seems odd to be that he is yesterdays news in a lost of fans eyes because he didn't light up the world at age 22.

Harang has a plus slider to go along with plus command. Maddux had the best command maybe ever and yeah, he had plus pitches.

As for Thompson, his fastball doesn't always have movement. I have seen days where it was low 90s, straight and not able to locate it this year and he got rocked.

Still, as for his prospect status, he is still the Reds best pitching prospect (although I will say that Lotzkar has a chance to move past him by the end of the year). I am not sure anyone thinks he isn't the best pitching prospect in the system and if there is, I would love to hear why they think that.

[lollipopcurve]

I am not sure anyone thinks he isn't the best pitching prospect in the system and if there is, I would love to hear why they think that.

I'm not sold on Thompson. He's never gone over 130 innings, and his shoulder surgery may make trying to do so a problem. The dip from mid-90s to high 80s in his fastball in the his last start with the Reds was worrisome. A major league starter shouldn't have that kind of fluctuation from start to start. The fact that he almost abandoned his slow curve at the major league level also concerns me. He did not show consistent confidence in his changeup, either. Overall, I have a hard time seeing him as anything other than a #4/5 right now. I like Lotzkar's ceiling a lot better, as well as Stewart out of the pen. Other guys who profile as 4/5s could be right there with Thompson a year from now (Maloney, Wood, Lecure and maybe others).

I hope I'm being too pessimistic here, but Thompson's got a ways to go to convince me he's a top prospect. I think he's solid, nothing more.

[cincyinco]

Profiling as a middle of the rotation starter in the big leagues is not a dig at Thompson at all. Thompson has to possess at least 3 average pitches to be a good pitcher. I think he has it in him to have more than average stuff assuming his progress doesn't stall and he keeps growing as a person and pitcher. He still is a very young pitcher professionally speaking. His progress should make everyone happy, just show some more patience and confidence in the kid. He certainly needs more seasoning, but a solid mid to back of the rotation pitcher is still a valuable commodity in baseball, and is always something the reds could use.

[Mario-Rijo]

I'm with WillM on this one. The Kid's ceiling IMO is YTBD, his stuff isn't much less if at all than what Harang had when he joined Cincy. The Kid has the velocity, enough control, the work ethic and the makeup to be better than a #3. He could well be a solid 2 in any rotation if I were to guess at maximum potential. I am not saying he'll reach it but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. Although I will admit that the injury concern could be a long term issue, I don't overly concern myself with it at this point.

That said I certainly wouldn't be opposed to perhaps dealing him or Homer at some point to bolster things a bit. Perhaps in a couple of years when/if Volquez and Cueto are established TOR year in and year out guys.

[Griffey012]

Let's not forget this guy did start off his career with 9 straight scoreless innings including 5 in Yankee stadium. He didn't necessarily look stellar even in those innings, but he shows he's got some skills to be a solid pitcher.

[bucksfan2]

If he is a 3-4 starter in a rotation of Harang, Cueto, Bailey, and Volquez I would say that is pretty good. Thats akin to calling Smoltz or Glavin the 3 man in the Smoltz, Glavin, Maddux rotation.

I don't put too much stock in forecasting what type of a pitcher a prospect will be until he is the league for a couple of years. Harang came to the Reds and wasn't anywhere close to where he is now. Guys who a willing to learn and study can develop into a very good pitcher. No pitcher comes into the league as a finished product.

I also think the arm injury is a little overblown. In todays medical world arm and shoulder injuries aren't as damning as they were even 5-10 years ago. They still are a concern but Thompson is 2 years post surgery and looking good. He should be on an innings limit and that may be the reason we won't see him with the reds this year but I expect to see him push for a starting spot next spring.