Zack Thompson
26-Year-Old
2024 Stats
W-L
0-0
ERA
0.00
WHIP
0.00
K
0
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
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
RANKSFrom Preseason
#594
ADP
Taking Gray's rotation spot
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol announced Friday that Thompson will be a member of the club's season-opening rotation, Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
ANALYSIS
Veteran Sonny Gray (hamstring) will begin the season on the injured list, opening the door for Thompson to earn a rotation spot. The southpaw pitched well during spring training with a 2.81 ERA and 14:6 K:BB across 16 innings, but Thompson will likely only get a few starts to stake his claim to a more permanent rotation spot since Gray isn't expected to have a lengthy absence.
Veteran Sonny Gray (hamstring) will begin the season on the injured list, opening the door for Thompson to earn a rotation spot. The southpaw pitched well during spring training with a 2.81 ERA and 14:6 K:BB across 16 innings, but Thompson will likely only get a few starts to stake his claim to a more permanent rotation spot since Gray isn't expected to have a lengthy absence.
Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2020
Minor League Game Log
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Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-18%
BAA vs LHP
2024
No Stats
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .205 | 30 | 15 | 24 | 1 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .249 | 69 | 24 | 65 | 10 | |||
2024vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2024vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2023vs Left | .246 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 1 | |||
2023vs Right | .278 | 53 | 15 | 52 | 7 | |||
2022vs Left | .146 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 0 | |||
2022vs Right | .176 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 3 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-16%
ERA on Road
2024
No Stats
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 3.96 | 1.32 | 52.1 | 8.6 | 2.9 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 3.33 | 1.21 | 48.2 | 9.1 | 4.1 | ||||
2024Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2024Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2023Home | 3.57 | 1.21 | 40.1 | 9.4 | 2.5 | ||||
2023Away | 5.88 | 1.73 | 26.0 | 10.4 | 4.8 | ||||
2022Home | 5.25 | 1.67 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 4.5 | ||||
2022Away | 0.40 | 0.62 | 22.2 | 7.5 | 3.2 | ||||
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.
* 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
2.88K/9
9.8BB/9
3.4HR/9
1.1Fastball
93.6 mphERA
4.48WHIP
1.42BABIP
.346GB/FB
1.51Left On Base
71.3%Exit Velocity
83.3 mphBarrels/BBE
3.8%Spin Rate
2029 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
26.1%Swinging Strike
9.5%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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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Zack Thompson See More
Even with a tough matchup against the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park on Opening Day, Spencer Strider takes the top spot in the first Weekly Pitcher Rankings of the year.
Brad Johnson has moved to the NL Central, and in Cincinnati, Hunter Greene, with one of the biggest arms in baseball, clearly has considerable potential.
James Anderson goes team-by-team to highlight which pitching prospects could ascend to the closer role in the coming years, including A's righty Mason Miller.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Pushing for 2024 rotation spot
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, Thompson's performance this season could put him in a strong position to earn a rotation spot in 2024.
ANALYSIS
Miles Mikolas is the only established starter for St. Louis heading into 2024 after he inked an extension in March, and Thompson's 3.60 ERA through five starts potentially lines him up to enter spring training as a favorite for the rotation. Dakota Hudson, Drew Rom and Steven Matz, who is out with a lat injury, will also be in the mix, but Thompson could have a leg up if he's able to pitch well over the final month of the season.
Miles Mikolas is the only established starter for St. Louis heading into 2024 after he inked an extension in March, and Thompson's 3.60 ERA through five starts potentially lines him up to enter spring training as a favorite for the rotation. Dakota Hudson, Drew Rom and Steven Matz, who is out with a lat injury, will also be in the mix, but Thompson could have a leg up if he's able to pitch well over the final month of the season.
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.
More Fantasy News
Competing for rotation spot
Thompson allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three without walking a batter in Saturday's Grapefruit league start versus the Astros.
ANALYSIS
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Logs no-decision Wednesday
Thompson pitched 5.1 innings against Milwaukee on Wednesday, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out five batters over 5.1 innings. He did not factor in the decision.
ANALYSIS
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Start pushed to Wednesday
Thompson will start Wednesday's game at Milwaukee, John Denton of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Yields four runs again
Thompson (5-7) allowed four runs on five hits and a walk while striking out four over five innings to take the loss Wednesday versus the Brewers.
ANALYSIS
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Coughs up four runs
Thompson (5-6) allowed four runs on five hits and two walks over five innings Friday, striking out four and taking a loss against the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
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