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Tyler Thornburg

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Tyler Thornburg
Thornburg pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 37
Pitcher
Born: (1988-09-29) September 29, 1988 (age 36)
Houston, Texas
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 19, 2012, for the Milwaukee Brewers
MLB statistics
(through October 2, 2016)
Win–loss record14-9
Earned run average2.87
Strikeouts220
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Tyler Michael Thornburg (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on June 19, 2012. Prior to beginning his professional career, he played college baseball for the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.

Early life

When Thornburg was a 12-year-old, he played as an outfielder in little league baseball for the Sandy Springs All-Stars, which won the Georgia state championship,[1] and reached the 2001 Southeast Regional final of the Little League World Series by pitching Sandy Springs past Vienna (VA) American 1-0.[2]

Career

Thornburg attended Riverwood High School, where he played for the school's baseball team.[3] He then enrolled in Charleston Southern University, where he played college baseball for the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, a member of the Big South Conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. With the Buccaneers, Thornburg played as a pitcher and outfielder.[4] In 2010, he was twice named the Big South Conference's pitcher of the week.[5] In the summer of 2008, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Winchester Royals of the Valley Baseball League, winning the league's Most Valuable Player award.[6] He played for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2009.[7]

The Brewers drafted Thornburg in the third round, with the 96th overall selection, of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.[4] He signed with the Brewers and pitched that year for the Helena Brewers in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. Thornburg began the 2011 season Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League, receiving a promotion to the Brevard County Manatees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League (FSL).[8] Thornburg had a 7–0 win–loss record and 1.50 earned run average (ERA) with Wisconsin,[9][10] and represented the Timber Rattlers in the Midwest League All-Star Game.[11] He was named FSL pitcher of the week in his first week after the promotion.[12] Thornburg participated in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game.[13]

MLB.com ranked Thornburg as the Brewers' fourth best prospect heading into the 2012 season.[14] The Brewers assigned Thornburg to the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League.[15] He had an 8–1 record with a 3.00 ERA in 13 games started, and was named the Brewers' minor league pitcher of the month for May 2012.[16] He was also selected to appear in the Southern League All-Star Game.[17] Instead of making an All-Star Game appearance, the Brewers promoted Thornburg to the major leagues to make his debut for the Brewers on June 19, 2012 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was called up to make an emergency start, for the injured Shaun Marcum.[17] In his debut, Thorburg allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs to Colby Rasmus, José Bautista, and Edwin Encarnación [18] He also collected his first major-league hit with a double to left center in his first major-league at bat.[19] He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League after the game.[20]

Thornburg appeared in 3 games with the Brewers during spring training in 2013, but was cut on March 11 and assigned to Nashville. Thornburg was the Sounds' Opening Day starter, pitching 5 innings and giving up 1 run, earning a no-decision. On June 5, Thornburg was recalled, replacing the injured Marco Estrada.[21] At the time, Thornburg was 0-7 with a 6.75 ERA in 12 starts. He made his 2013 major league debut that day against Oakland, pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief in the 6-1 loss. He recorded his first win in his next appearance, pitching 2 scoreless innings against Philadelphia on June 8. After the game, Thornburg was optioned back to Nashville, when Jim Henderson was activated off the disabled list. Thornburg made 3 more starts with Nashville before being recalled on June 29, replacing Caleb Gindl. He spent the rest of the season with Milwaukee, and pitched in 16 games (7 starts). In 18 games (7 starts) with the Brewers, Thornburg went 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, striking out 48 in 66.2 innings.

In 2014, Thornburg began the season in the Brewers' bullpen before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. Thornburg spent most of the 2015 season in AAA regaining his arm strength.

Prior to the 2016 season, the Brewers decided to make Thornburg a full-time reliever rather than the swing man role he had occupied up to that point in his career.[22] Thornburg became the Brewers' setup-man and displayed career-best fastball velocity, reaching as high as 96 mph with his heater. He set the Brewers franchise record for consecutive innings without allowing a baserunner for a relief pitcher.[23]

Scouting report

Thornburg has a 91-96 MPH fastball. Due to his velocity, size, over-the-top delivery, and repertoire, he has drawn favorable comparisons to Tim Lincecum.[2] He throws two off-speed pitches, including a strong power curveball in the upper-70s, and a sinking change-up in the low-80s.[24]

As a late-inning reliever/closer, Thornburg's fastball is consistently thrown around 94-97 MPH. His curveball is his primary off-speed pitch.

References

  1. ^ "State title for Sandy Springs". The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. August 2, 2001. p. JH14. Retrieved June 20, 2012. (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Rogers, Carroll (July 9, 2011). "Metro Atlanta native and Brewers prospect on the ascent". ajc.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  3. ^ "Atlanta News, Sports, Atlanta Weather, Business News | ajc.com". Nl.newsbank.com. June 11, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "CSU's Thornburg taken In third round of 2010 MLB Draft – Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports". Live5News.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  5. ^ "Thornburg again earns weekly Big South award – Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports". Live5News.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  6. ^ "Townsend, Nesselrodt top Valley Baseball League awards". The News Leader. Staunton, Virginia. August 13, 2008. p. B.4. Retrieved June 19, 2012. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) (subscription required)
  7. ^ Cape Cod Times (June 13, 2009). "Cape League: Brewster, Falmouth end in tie". CapeCodOnline.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  8. ^ Marshall, Ashley. "Thornburg dominant for six, fans 10 | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Milb.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  9. ^ "Former T-Rat Tyler Thornburg Gets Start for the Brewers – WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News". Wbay.com. April 9, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  10. ^ "Sports: Brewers Notebook: Back on track". Onmilwaukee.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  11. ^ "Chiefs well represented in All-Star game – Pekin, IL – Pekin Daily Times". Pekintimes.com. June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  12. ^ Rogers, Carroll (July 6, 2011). "Atlanta's Thornburg makes rapid ascent to Futures Game". ajc.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  13. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (July 10, 2011). "Brewers pitching prospect Thornburg turning some heads". JSOnline. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  14. ^ "Aramis meets with Roenicke about slow start | brewers.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  15. ^ Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times. "Veteran catchers draw the assignment for Huntsville Stars". al.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  16. ^ Glenn Baeske, The Huntsville Times. "Huntsville's Thornburg, Sanchez honored by Brewers as top pitchers in May". al.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  17. ^ a b Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times (November 1, 2011). "Huntsville Stars' Tyler Thornburg promoted to Brewers, to pitch in Milwaukee tonight". al.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  18. ^ "Thornburg's debut a needed delivery". JSOnline. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  19. ^ "Toronto blasts its way past Brewers". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. June 20, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Bayne, Michael (June 22, 2012). "Prospect of the Day: Tyler Thornburg, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers". Minor League Ball. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  21. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (June 5, 2013). "Marco Estrada on DL; Tyler Thornburg called up". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  22. ^ "Healthy Tyler Thornburg Excited About Full-Time Reliever Role with Brewers". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 1, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  23. ^ "Brewers Reliever Tyler Thornburg on an Impressive Run". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. June 5, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  24. ^ "FanGraphs Tyler Thornburg Pitch FX". Fangraphs.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
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