Cardinals left-hander Zack Thompson suffered a tear in his left lat muscle, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak advised reporters (together with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Put up-Dispatch) in the present day. Thompson shall be shut down after which re-evaluated in three or 4 weeks, so Thompson will certainly begin the season on the Playing cards’ injured checklist.
It’s a troublesome setback for Thompson, who was competing for a job within the St. Louis bullpen and continues to be looking for a distinct segment for himself on the massive league stage. The nineteenth general decide of the 2019 draft has amassed 118 profession MLB innings during the last three seasons, topping out at 66 1/3 innings in 2023 whereas working first as a reliever after which as a starter over the season’s final six weeks.
Thompson had a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 frames in 2022, however then a 4.48 ERA from that bigger workload in 2023. His peripheral numbers had been nonetheless attention-grabbing sufficient to recommend that Thompson may hit take one other step ahead final season, but the alternative occurred — the southpaw was rocked for a 9.53 ERA over 17 innings as a starter and reliever, and didn’t return to the majors after being optioned to Triple-A Memphis in late April. Issues didn’t precisely stabilize within the minors, as Thompson had a 4.40 ERA and 14.2% stroll price over 90 innings in Memphis, beginning 20 of his 21 video games.
Whereas these struggles didn’t take away Thompson from the Cardinals’ future plans, there wasn’t any area for him in a rotation that’s nonetheless filled with veteran arms, plus different children have now seemingly handed Thompson on the depth chart if a rotation spot did open up. Working as an extended reliever or a probably a swingman would have allowed Thompson to construct up extra expertise and confidence within the Present, except St. Louis most well-liked to let him get on monitor as a starter in Memphis.
The league granted the Cardinals a fourth minor league choice on Thompson throughout the offseason, giving the staff the power to ship him backwards and forwards between Triple-A and the majors throughout the 2025 marketing campaign. It’s fairly doable Thompson would have began the season in Triple-A anyway, although in the present day’s harm information will delay the lefty completely till he is ready to get again onto a mound. Thompson will then have to rebuild his arm energy, so it appears seemingly he’ll be sidelined till at the very least late April given the time he’s set to overlook in his shutdown interval.
