The Braves signed right-hander Zach Thompson to a minor league deal earlier this week, according to the the transactions tracker on his MLB.com profile page. Thompson went on to confirm the signing on his personal Instagram account yesterday. Thompson, who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier this week, did not sign with a club in 2024 after undergoing surgery last October to repair a partially torn flexor tendon.
A fifth-round pick by the White Sox in the 2014 draft, Thompson made his big league debut as a member of the Marlins back in 2021. It was an impressive rookie campaign for the right-hander, as proved to be a pivotal swing man for Miami during his lone campaign with the club. He started 14 of the 26 games he appeared in and generally looked good over 75 innings of work with a 3.24 ERA and 3.69 FIP. He struck out 21% of opponents while walking 8.9%. That first season in the majors was attractive enough to the Pirates that Thompson was shipped to Pittsburgh as part of the trade that sent Jacob Stallings to the Marlins during the 2021-22 offseason.
Unfortunately, Thompson’s 2022 campaign in Pittsburgh did not go nearly as well as his rookie year with the Marlins did. The right-hander pitched 122 1/3 innings of work for the Pirates that year across 29 appearances (22 starts), but saw his results take a nosedive as he surrendered a 5.18 ERA with a 4.87 FIP. While Thompson’s walk rate held largely steady at 8.5%, his strikeout rate dipped to just 16.6% and his home run rate nearly doubled, taking him from a well-above average swing option to someone the Pirates were comfortable designating for assignment in January of 2023.
Thompson was dealt to the Blue Jays in a minor trade shortly thereafter but did not make the club’s roster out of camp and was ultimately DFA’d by Toronto in June. He spent virtually the entire 2023 season as a start at the Triple-A level for the Jays, and posted a fairly lackluster 4.61 ERA in 105 1/3 innings of work across 24 starts while striking out just 17.4% of his opponents before going under the knife in October and electing free agency shortly thereafter.
Now that Thompson appears to be recovered from his surgery last year, he’ll look tor re-establish himself as a credible big league option with the Braves. Atlanta has done well helping other arms who have struggled elsewhere find success with their club, including 2024 bullpen pieces Grant Holmes and Jesse Chavez. With Chavez and lefty A.J. Minter both ticketed for free agency, it’s possible that Thompson could earn a bullpen job out of camp this spring if the Braves prioritize other areas of the roster like the rotation, where the club figures to watch both Max Fried and Charlie Morton depart from this year’s staff.