Trent Thornton
Born:
09/30/1993 (Age: 30)
Bats:
Right
Throws: Right
Arm Slot: High 3/4
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175
Primary Position: RHSP
Seconday Position: -
Throws: Right
Arm Slot: High 3/4
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 175
Primary Position: RHSP
Seconday Position: -
Acquisition Period:
5th Rd., 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft (HOU)
Entry Point: 4 Yr College
Entry Point: 4 Yr College
Report Info
| Evaluator: | Dave DeFreitas |
| Report Date: | June 21st, 2016 |
| Dates Seen: | 6/14 |
| Level: | High A |
| Affiliate: | Lancaster JetHawks |
| MLB Team: |
|
Physical Description
Long legs, high waist; narrow shoulders. Has some present thickness to the frame; room to fill out in lower half; some strength projection there.
Mechanical Notes
Stays tall, high leg kick; stab, small wrap in back before coming through the slot. Creates good angle; lands soft. High-maintenance mechanics, but athletic and should continue to calm things down a bit.
| MLB ETA | Future Floor | Future Ceiling | Realistic Role | Risk | 2019 | 40 | 50 | Role 40: Middle Reliever | High |
|---|
| Pitch | Present | Future | Sitting | Max | Comments |
| Fastball | |||||
| Fastball | 50 | 55 | 90-92 | 93 | Tail, flat run; gets some life in the zone, but stays on same plane. Angle, quick arm play up the life slightly. |
| Tail, flat run; gets some life in the zone, but stays on same plane. Angle, quick arm play up the life slightly. | |||||
| Curveball | |||||
| Curveball | 40 | 50 | 77-79 | 80 | Hump, big shape; starts early, but shows 12-to-6 shape with 3/4 break with snap when up in count. Showed average, two good ones back door to LHH, but used sparingly otherwise. Could get to average with more consistent usage. |
| Hump, big shape; starts early, but shows 12-to-6 shape with 3/4 break with snap when up in count. Showed average, two good ones back door to LHH, but used sparingly otherwise. Could get to average with more consistent usage. | |||||
| Slider | |||||
| Slider | 40 | 45 | 79-82 | 82 | 3/4 depth, big shape and shows gradual, slurvy break. Threw for strikes and showed some feel to take hitters out of the zone. |
| 3/4 depth, big shape and shows gradual, slurvy break. Threw for strikes and showed some feel to take hitters out of the zone. | |||||
| ChangeUp | |||||
| ChangeUp | 40 | 50 | 79-82 | 86 | Circle action; gets some dive to arm side. Has some feel, uses to both RHH and LHH; arm action plays it up. Some inconsistency, has it flatten out and get BP fastball-ish at times, but chance to be an average pitch. |
| Circle action; gets some dive to arm side. Has some feel, uses to both RHH and LHH; arm action plays it up. Some inconsistency, has it flatten out and get BP fastball-ish at times, but chance to be an average pitch. | |||||
| Overall Command | |||||
| Overall Command | 40 | 40 | |||
| Overall Control | |||||
| Overall Control | 40 | 45 | |||
MiLB Stats
Overall Summary
Athletic right-hander with a quick arm who drives down in the zone with a fringe-average 3-to-4 pitch mix. There is some maintenance with the delivery and has average deception; he creates some angle, but fastball gets very hittable up in the zone. Should get a little stronger and could see an extra 1-2 mph velo bump in future. Bevy of off-speed pitches; cutter/slider variations; both fringe average, but has some feel with each. Likes the cutter in to LHH and slider glove side to RHH. Curveball shows 12-to-6 break with some snap, but inconsistent; showed more feel, consistency in middle innings; has some hand speed; chance for it to get to average. Changeup might be his best secondary; inconsistent action and below-average feel, but showed ability to create some dive/bottom; deception with the arm action plays it up and should get to average. Overall, he is around the zone a lot, but with below-average command. Gives up a lot of contact and lacks a real swing-and-miss pitch. Made some adjustments third time through the lineup; needs to focus in on one breaking ball and improve consistency with the changeup. Maintains his velocity and has a chance to be a back-end of the rotation guy, but ultimately I see the command/control profile and feel for secondary bumping him into a bullpen role, where he could go multiple innings and see his velo play up.
