Zack
Thompson

5/25/16 Game Notes: The Kentucky recruit pitched five innings, allowing six hits, five runs (4ER), three walks while striking out 11 in an opening round win.  He cruised through his first two innings of work allowing just one hit, while striking out four.  In the first inning his fastball sat 90-93, hitting 95 twice.  In the second he was 89-93, popping a 94.  He threw a couple of good changeups at 82-85 showing some sink and fade action.  In the third Thompson struggled with command missing both up and down in the zone.  All five of Lapel's runs came in the third inning.  In the third, throwing mostly from the stretch, Thompson's fastball dipped to 86-89 before bumping it back up to 91-92 to end the inning. Thompson bounced back with a strong fourth inning striking out the side sitting 89-92. He flashed several sharp breaking balls in his outing ranging in the 70-76 mph range. 

4/2/16 Game Notes: The Kentucky recruit is back on the mound after sitting out the last several months rehabbing a shoulder injury.  The 6-foot-3, 205 pound southpaw pitched five innings allowing 1H, 1R, 4BB while striking out 9.  Saturday's weather did not provide ideal pitching conditions; game time temperature of 41 with wind gusts into the 30's and 40's. Thompson put together a fairly solid outing despite some command issues. In the first he got up to 91 with the fastball, sitting 87-89, mostly out of the stretch. Through most of the game the fastball sat anywhere from 87-90, touching a 93 in the second and a 92 in the fourth. By the time the fifth inning rolled around he settled in at 85-87.  One of the questions coming in to the season other than his health, was his ability to throw the breaking ball. He showed on multiple occasions that he can spin it for a strike, flashing several 70-72 curveballs with sharp break, coming in hard to right-handed hitters. He shows easy effort, with a quick, clean arm action. 

5/6/15 GAME NOTES: The Kentucky commit did not have his best outing of the year, but was still effective throwing 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.  He struck out 10 hitters on the night, leading Wapahani to an 11-3 victory of Daleville.  Thompson's fastball sat 88-91, touching 92 on multiple occasions. The fastball showed good run in on right-handed hitters. He threw his changeup sparingly at 80-83.  His breaking ball, which had the tendency to miss up in the zone, was 69-73.  The breaking ball showed an 11/5 shape with gradual break.  When throwing it harder (around 71-73) it showed tighter spin with more sharpness. Thompson's delivery shows easy effort with a clean arm action.  He also homered in the game. 

4/11/15 GAME NOTES: The University of Kentucky commit pitched 5 shutout innings, striking out 10, walked 3, threw 1 wild pitch and gave up two hits against FW Homestead HS on Saturday. His arm action was loose and easy, He had early season control of his fastball that was consistently 86-88 he seldom used his off speed pitches. He homered in game two.

7/16/14: The 6-foot-2, 180-pound lefty has a fastball that's been up to 91, easily sitting in the upper 80s. Thompson pitches with easy effort and a clean arm action. The third-ranked player in Indiana's 2016 class, he throws a 76-80 mph breaking and a splitter with good sink. Thompson led his high school team to a 2A state title, going undefeated on the season at 13-0 with a 0.64 ERA. Thompson has quickly increased his stock over the last couple of months, drawing interest from many D-1 programs.

2/22/14: Thompson is a 6-foot-1, 180 pound southpaw that was up to 84 with his heavy fastball while sitting 82-83 with good downward movement.  He possesses quick arm speed with good rhythm and easy effort throughout his delivery.  Throws a 12/6 breaking ball at 62-67 mph with good depth.  Thompson’s changeup was 75-77 with some sink and thrown for a strike. He’s a high follow in the 2016 class. At 1B displayed average hands and feet.  Plays through the baseball well and was 78 across the diamond.  Offensively hits from a balanced setup and shows a smooth load back.  Has good balance throughout the swing.  Fluid rhythm.  

4/20/19: Tall, strong framed lefty at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds. Thompson is one of the top three college pitching prospects in this year's draft. He's an above average athlete who repeated his delivery with a slightly cross-body landing. Showed clean arm action with a full path to a high three-quarter slot. Finished with a consistent release point and extension out front. He is a rare lefty who can rack up the punchouts (91 SO in 63 IP this spring) and features four average to better present pitches. The best of those pitches on this look were a fastball up to 96 mph and a plus, swing/miss changeup. The change was thrown at 81-84 mph with fastball arm speed and consistently located down in the zone with sink and armside action. Spin rate ranged from 1560 – 1700 rpm. He commanded his fastball to both sides of the plate, showing some angle with average life. Fastball spin rate averaged 2050 rpm with his top fastball velocities coming when the ball was up in the zone. After sitting 95-96 in the second inning, he worked mainly in the 90-93 mph range for the remainder of his seven-inning, 105 pitch start. His 1/7 shaped curveball showed tight spin and good depth at 72-75 mph with more deception than power at 20 mph less than his fastball velo. Spin rate topped out at 3040 rpm, averaging slightly over 2950. Another pitch in his deep repertoire was an 82-85 mph sharp breaking slider. It was above average with an average spin rate of 2110 rpm and thrown mostly to left-handed hitters. He punched out hitters with all four of his pitches and the mix generated much soft contact throughout the first five innings. The sixth was a struggle for Thompson as he threw 34 pitches battling poor defense and a suddenly tighter strike zone which lead to four runs on just two hits. While not the smoothest at fielding his position, he made every play that came his way from fielding bunts to covering the first base bag. Overall, he's a top half of the first round draft talent who just needs to stay healthy for the duration of the 2019 season after missing eight weeks of the 2018 spring season with an elbow injury that did not require surgery. (Seifert)

7/6/18: Tall, athletic lefty with a smooth, repeatable delivery and good arm action. Lands slightly closed and works down the hill getting good extension. In the first inning his fastball ranged from 90-93 mph, mostly 92, showing some cut and good angle when he drove it to his glove side, keeping right-handed hitters honest and off the plate. Over his final two innings of this outing his fastball ranged from 87-91 mph while his command seemed to improve with each out. Mixed in an early breaking 84 mph slider and a cutting changeup with similar velocity and movement. At times, it was hard to differentiate between the two pitches. Also showed a useable, yet slower, curveball at 71 mph. On this day, he faced 10 batters in three innings pitched. Struck out four and walked two while allowing no runs. Thompson profiles as a starting pitcher and is a potential early round candidate for the 2019 draft, if he can stay healthy after missing half of this past spring season with an injury. (Seifert)