Jake Thompson

Note: This page is for pitcher Jake Thompson who made his major league debut in 2016; for others with the same name, click here.

Jacob Keith Thompson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 235 lb.
• High School Rockwall-Heath High School
• Debut August 6, 2016
• Final Game July 29, 2018
• Born January 31, 1994 in Dallas, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jake Thompson is a pitcher who made his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He was a 2nd round pick out of high school in the 2012 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers and signed quickly, allowing him to play that season with the GCL Tigers. In 7 starts, he went 1-2 with a 1.91 ERA, striking out 31 in 28 1/3 innings. He had gone to the same high school as Drew VerHagen, who was the Tigers' third-round selection in the draft. VerHagen had attended Rockwall-Heath High School a few years before Jake and gone on to play college ball before being drafted.

In 2013, he moved to the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League and continued to pitch well, going 3-3 with a 3.13 ERA in 17 games, 16 of them starts. He pitched 83 1/3 innings, striking out 81 opponents. His workload went up significantly in 2014, as he had already reached the preceding year's total of innings by mid-July. With the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Florida State League, his pitching line at the midway point was almost identical to what he had put up the previous year in a full season: a record of 6-4, 3.14, and 79 Ks in 83 innings. He was selected to pitch in the 2014 Futures Game at Target Field on July 13th and ended up picking up the win for the U.S. team. He relieved Lucas Giolito with one out in the 6th inning after Giolito had given up a two-run homer to Javier Baez for 2-1 lead by the World team. Jake struck out both batters he faced to complete the inning, then inherited the win when Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame, making it 3-2, which would be the game's final score.

On July 23, 2014, Thompson was traded to the Texas Rangers along with fellow pitching prospect Corey Knebel in return for closer Joakim Soria. He spent just a years in the Rangers' system though. He finished the 2014 season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, where he was 3-1, 3.28 in 7 games. That gave him a combined pitching line for the season of 10-5, 3.12 in 25 games, with 130 Ks in 129 2/3 innings. In 2015, he began the year back with Frisco and was 6-6, 4.72 after 17 starts when on July 29th he was one of five prospects traded to Philadelphia, along with veteran starter Matt Harrison, in the deal that landed Texas Ps Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman. The other prospects involved were Ps Alec Asher and Jerad Eickhoff, C Jorge Alfaro and OF Nick Williams.

Notable Achievements

• 2016 Pitcher of the Year International League Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Related Sites

• Jake Thompson on mlb.com
• BR Minors page