Baseball Beginnings

John Klima | June 26, 2009

Chad Thompson began the spring as one of the top high school right-handers on the Southern California watch list, but after a fast start and a pop in his elbow, that changed. The 6-7 Thompson underwent elbow ligament replacement (Tommy John) surgery on May 1, but still hoped to have shown enough that he could be drafted and undergo a professional rehabilitation stint.

The Yankees drafted Thompson (17th round, 525th overall) and will take the flyer that Thompson can follow the career path of former Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, who fell out of the first round in his draft, signed for a comparable amount, and began a road which led him to the major leagues.

Thompson’s not the first nor the last young pitcher to get the name of the former left-hander who was once known for 287 major league victories instead of a surgery that prolonged his career and now bears his name. Thompson knows his career isn’t over, but still, the setback was a disappointment. Baseball Beginnings caught up with him in May and talked about where he is and where he hopes to be.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | No Comments »
Tags: Chad Thompson, New York Yankees

John Klima | May 25, 2009

Trayce Thompson has basketball genes but baseball in his blood. His Dad, Mychal, was Mr. 1/1 (First pick, First round) of the 1978 NBA draft and enjoyed a long and productive career. Two of Trayce’s older brothers are Division I college basketball players. And even though Trayce grew up with Clyde Drexler coming over from a few doors down to try to get Mycheal off the couch and go to the gym with him, he still had baseball in his mind when he was out shooting with another friendly visitor, Uncle Chuck Barkley.

Here at Baseball Beginnings, we like guys who have played multiple sports prior to signing. It’s really a sentiment from Old World scouting, where the belief was that no sport requires more fine motor skills than baseball. So if you take a guy who knows how to move his feet and his hands, you got yourself an athlete. It worked for Goose Tatum, a stud member of the old Harlem Globetrotters and a pretty good baseball player in his own right.

Some of the baseball players with other sports in their pasts who we’ve covered leading up to the 2009 draft are Bonita HS shortstop Jiovanni Mier, a soccer player, and Loyola Marymount first baseman Ryan Wheeler, who used to play basketball with North Carolina’s Deon Thompson in high school. Willie Mays played everything in high school, so did Reggie Jackson. Gary Carter was a prep quarterback. John Elway, you know his deal.

In the showcase and specialization age, the multi-sport baseball player is largely a thing of the past, but a player like Thompson shows why different athletic experiences before going into baseball fulltime still has its advantages. That’s the view here, which probably runs contrary to a lot of opinions in the amateur baseball field.

At this time last year, Thompson said he was just trying to get a Division I school to take him, but athleticism helps a player come quickly into baseball. His ride is at UCLA, but signs indicate that the draft will never let him get there. Baseball Beginnings caught up with Thompson and talked about his basketball past and his baseball future.

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Category: '09 Meet the Player | 2 Comments »
Tags: Chad Thompson, Jiovanni Mier, Matt Hobgood, Mychal Thompson, Ryan Wheeler, Trayce Thompson, Tyler Matzek, UCLA