By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
August 25, 2010
I was just strolling through the visiting locker room at Angel Stadium when the Tampa Bay Rays were in town this week. I had a nice long look at the pitchers, and most of the time, I had a kink in my neck looking skyward. For a second there, I wasn’t sure if I was in the NBA. I’ve been in an NBA locker room a handful of times in my career, but I know my way around a big league locker room. And I wouldn’t have to be as sharp of a baseball thinker as I am to realize that the Rays like their pitchers to physically profile to be taller than the trees.
Up in the paper mill towns where the New York-Penn League plays is where former Long Beach State right-hander Jake Thompson is getting his feet wet in pro ball. I always liked Thompson, for two reasons: big arm, big competitor. He was just a name on a list in a lot of the pre-draft stuff, and to be honest, Beginnings liked him a lot more than most.
West Coast bias? Um, no. Power arm bias, with a hard and nasty slider, better pitch-ability than he got credit for, and a legendary streak as a 50-50 ticket seller back in Chatham. We had a look at him last week in short-A.
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Category: 2010 Minor Leagues |
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Tags: Jake Thompson, Jake Thompson Update, Long Beach State, Tampa Bay Rays
By Jen Marder
June 8, 2010
Today the Tampa Bay Rays selected Jake Thompson in the second round (#66 overall) in the 2010 MLB Draft. Baseball Beginnings has been scouting Thompson from the start of the draft cycle. Enjoy links to the content we have published on him through the year.
Read Summer 2010 Jake Thompson Scouting Update
Read Jake Thompson Q&A
Read Jake Thompson Scouting Report
Read Jake Thompson Scouting Update
Watch Jake Thompson Video
Watch Jake Thompson vs. Cole Cook
Watch more Jake Thompson Video
Category: 2010 Draft |
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Tags: Jake Thompson, Long Beach State, Tampa Bay Rays
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
June 1, 2010
Jake Thompson has come a long way from a chuck-and-duck high school days. There have been some growing years along the way and he’s had to prove himself again and again. You won’t take the competitor out of Thompson, and when he comes to the big leagues, I expect people to start saying he reminds them of Drysdale or Gibson. Look, I like pitchers who push hitters back. I like pitchers who don’t back down. Go watch a big league game. You will find guys who are afraid to pitch with the fastball. So that’s one big reason why I like Thompson.
I also really like it when the guy can throw 94 consistently and throw a slider that will make your bat explode. I can deal with the moments of inconsistent command, and though I don’t expect this guy to ever be Leake or Maddux, I do think he’s got more pitch-ability than he gets credit for. Here’s what the scouting card says.
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Category: '10 Scouting Reports |
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Tags: Jake Thompson, Jake Thompson Report, Long Beach State
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
May 28, 2010
Jake Thompson’s first pitch against Cal State Fullerton went right behind the knees of Christian Colon. I love Thompson’s cocky fearlessness on the mound. The Big West, who put a suspension on him for that, didn’t love him throwing at the conference’s golden boy. Too bad they don’t scout.
Thompson’s outing at Blair Field against the Titans showed you everything you need to know about Thompson – nasty, filthy stuff, inconsistent command of all three pitches deep into a game and bar-room brawling mentality. As a scout, all you really ought to care about is the filthy, nasty stuff.
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Category: '10 Scouting Updates |
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Tags: Jake Thompson, Jake Thompson Update, Long Beach State
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
February 20, 2010
The scouting sheet wasn’t nearly as close as the score sheet when Long Beach State right-hander Jake Thompson beat Pepperdine right-hander Cole Cook 2-1 in a game between two of Southern California ’s best 2010 collegiate right-handed MLB draft pitching prospects Friday night at Blair Field in Long Beach.
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Category: '10 Videos, 2010 Draft, Ace vs. Ace |
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Tags: Cole Cook, Cole Cook Video, Jake Thompson, Jake Thompson Video, Long Beach State, Pepperdine
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
December 7, 2009
Have a look at Long Beach State right-hander Jake Thompson pitching in a Fall Ball game.
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Category: '10 Videos |
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Tags: Jake Thompson, Jake Thompson Video, Long Beach State
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
October 7, 2009
Over at Chatham, there was a nice collection of starting pitchers that are going to be 2010 draft prospects. Chances are that each guy is going to go good, as they say in the business.
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Category: 2010 Draft, 2011 Draft |
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Tags: 2009 Cape, Dean Green, Jake Thompson, Matt Harvey, Ricky Oropesa, Taylor Hill, Tom Belza, Tyler Lyons
By The Baseball Beginnings Guy
September 29, 2009
The Baseball Beginnings pre-draft 2010 college list isn’t made up of Boras Babies and Baseball America Beauties. Instead, we go by the players we have seen in person on the Cape or out West here in California. This list is being published in September 2009, eight full months before the June 2010 MLB Draft. As we stated in our high school lists for pitchers, infielders, outfielders and catchers, our college lists are not meant to be taken as definitive this early in the process. Don’t live or die by anything this early, as some guys will sink and some will swim. If you want hype, well, I’m not your kind of scout. As we say here at Baseball Beginnings, the players will rank themselves.
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Category: 2010 Draft |
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Tags: 2010 First Look, Aaron Meade, Addison Reed, AJ Griffin, Ben Rowen, Brian Dupra, Chad Bell, Chris Sale, Jake Buchanan, Jake Thompson, Jesse Hahn, John Lambert, Kevin Gelinas, Kyle Blair, Mario Hollands, Matt Evers, Matt Grace, Matt Harvey, Mike Nesseth, Rob Rasmussen, Sean Hoelscher, Seth Blair, Seth Rosin, Taylor Hill, Tyler Lyons
