Zack Thompson

Zack Thompson

27-Year-Old PitcherRP
St. Louis Cardinals AAA
2024 Fantasy Outlook
In a season filled with minor controversies and culminating in a rare last-place finish for St. Louis, the Cardinals' mishandling of Thompson might have flown under the radar. He was told to prepare for a relief role at spring training before suddenly being optioned to Triple-A Memphis in early May to stretch out as a starter. He then returned to the majors to fill a bullpen opening in July before ultimately being pressed into starting duties by default following the deadline trades of Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty. Thompson boasts an impressive fastball-curve-cutter arsenal and has been working to improve his changeup, but the 26-year-old southpaw could be faced with an even greater level of job uncertainty in 2024 after the Cards brought in veteran starters Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn over the winter. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#384
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals in March of 2024.
Back from IL
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
July 26, 2024
Thompson (undisclosed) was reinstated from Triple-A Memphis' 7-day injured list Friday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
ANALYSIS
The left-hander has been sidelined nearly a month by an unspecified injury, but he's now healthy and ready to return to the mound at Louisville. Thompson has a 9.53 ERA and 20:8 K:BB over 17 innings for the Cardinals this season and has a 4.17 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and 54:35 K:BB in 11 outings at Triple-A.
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Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2020
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
63
Last 10 Games
63
Last 5 Games
63
How many pitches does Zack Thompson generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Zack Thompson generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-18%
BAA vs LHP
2024
 
 
-19%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-12%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-17%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2022vs Left .218 158 33 15 31 2 0 2
Since 2022vs Right .265 348 86 32 82 20 0 15
2024vs Left .280 25 3 0 7 1 0 1
2024vs Right .347 58 17 8 17 3 0 5
2023vs Left .246 80 19 10 17 1 0 1
2023vs Right .278 207 53 15 52 14 0 7
2022vs Left .146 53 11 5 7 0 0 0
2022vs Right .176 83 16 9 13 3 0 3
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-21%
ERA on Road
2024
 
 
-48%
ERA on Road
2023
 
 
-39%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-92%
ERA on Road
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2022Home 5.03 1.42 59.0 3 5 0 9.3 2.9 1.5
Since 2022Away 3.97 1.29 59.0 3 5 1 8.8 4.3 1.1
2024Home 13.50 2.25 6.2 0 0 0 14.9 2.7 2.7
2024Away 6.97 1.65 10.1 0 2 0 7.8 5.2 3.5
2023Home 3.57 1.21 40.1 3 4 0 9.4 2.5 1.1
2023Away 5.88 1.73 26.0 2 3 0 10.4 4.8 1.0
2022Home 5.25 1.67 12.0 0 1 0 6.0 4.5 2.3
2022Away 0.40 0.62 22.2 1 0 1 7.5 3.2 0.0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Zack Thompson compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
2.50
 
K/9
10.6
 
BB/9
4.2
 
HR/9
3.2
 
Fastball
90.8 mph
 
ERA
9.53
 
WHIP
1.88
 
BABIP
.392
 
GB/FB
1.05
 
Left On Base
59.3%
 
Exit Velocity
84.3 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
6.5%
 
Spin Rate
1820 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
28.7%
 
Swinging Strike
10.1%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2021
The Cardinals drafted Thompson with the 19th overall pick in 2019. Called up in early June of last year, Thompson made a splash right away, becoming the first player in 45 years to pitch four or more innings and record the save in their big-league debut. A starter at Triple-A in 2021, Thompson began his transition to the bullpen over the first couple months of last season and ended up pitching almost exclusively in relief as a rookie (22 appearances, one start). He was fantastic from a run-prevention standpoint, though the underlying numbers were less impressive, in particular a strikeout rate a shade under 20 percent. A lot will be asked of his defense once again in 2023. Expect some giveback and don't bother in a mixed league unless Thompson is getting starts for St. Louis.
Thompson has had quite the baseball journey. He should have been a high draft pick coming out of high school, but concerns about his shoulder and desire for college dropped him to the 11th round. He failed his post-draft physical, went to college and had more medical problems around some quality pitching. He was drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft and casually used out of the bullpen in the lower levels of the minors. His best pitch is a nasty curveball and he also nice slider to go along with his fastball and changeup. If the injury issues are behind him, he is an intriguing draft-and-follow in keeper leagues. It is unlikely he does anything more than September pitching, but a stash for long-term leagues is worthy of consideration here.
More Fantasy News
Lands on Triple-A IL
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
Undisclosed
July 1, 2024
Triple-A Memphis placed Thompson on its 7-day injured list Monday with an unspecified injury.
ANALYSIS
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Starting Wednesday at Triple-A
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
May 21, 2024
Thompson is scheduled to start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democratreports.
ANALYSIS
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Option for Saturday's start
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
May 20, 2024
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Monday that Thompson is a candidate to start Saturday versus the Cubs, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
ANALYSIS
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Dispatched to minors
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
April 24, 2024
The Cardinals optioned Thompson to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
ANALYSIS
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Set to lose rotation spot
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
April 7, 2024
Thompson is expected to lose his rotation spot and move to the bullpen with Sonny Gray (hamstring) on track to return from the 15-day injured list to start Tuesday's game against the Phillies, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reports.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
In mix to start Saturday
PSt. Louis Cardinals  AAA
May 21, 2024
Thompson is tentatively scheduled to start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, but he remains an option to be called up to start Saturday for the Cardinals, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.
ANALYSIS
The left-hander wouldn't make a start on two days' rest, but he shouldn't be considered unavailable until he actually takes the mound for Memphis. He began the season in St. Louis' rotation but shifted to the bullpen once Sonny Gray returned from the injured list, and Thompson was demoted to Triple-A in late April after he posted a 9.53 ERA and 1.88 WHIP in 17 innings. The 26-year-old has given up just three earned runs over 14.2 frames since he joined Memphis, though his 14:13 K:BB is worrisome.
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