Feb 21, 2014; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Zack Thornton (74) poses for a photo at Pirate City. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets long standing nightmare at first base is at least partially over, as Ike Davis has been dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets will move forward with Josh Satin and Lucas Duda at first base, but what about the guy the Mets get in return, Zack Thornton?
Admittedly, using the word “prospect” on Zack Thornton may be a bit generous, but he does have a shot of breaking into the big leagues this season. Thornton is a right-handed reliever with decent, but not spectacular numbers in his minor league career. The 26-year old is in his fifth minor league season and has a career 3.03 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP and 10.2 K/9. This fall he made the trip to the Arizona Fall League where his numbers very closely mirrored his minor league career, except in WHIP where he had a fantastic 0.75.
While he has put up strong strikeout numbers in the past, that is not expected to be a part of his game should he get to the big leagues. He is more likely a sixth or seventh inning guy that can step into a jam and induce a double play. He pounds the strike zone, waling barely two batters per nine innings, and gets a lot of ground balls.
Thornton was drafted in the 43d round out of Ventura College by the San Francisco Giants in 2008 draft, but decided to transfer to the University of Oregon instead and was ten drafted by Oakland Athletics in the 23rd round in 2010.
This is not the first time Thornton has been traded for a player with big league experience, as the A’s dealt Thornton to the Pirates for Chris Resop in 2012.