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The Mets closed out their disappointing first half on Sunday afternoon with a heartbreaking loss against the Boston Red Sox and wasted rookie Zach Thornton’s incredible performance in just his third major league start.
The left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out five and throwing just 82 pitches (56 strikes). It was the best outing of Thornton’s young career which has seen him only make sporadic starts for New York – one in May, one in June and one in July.
But after his dominant outing, Thornton, at least for now, has earned a spot in the rotation and will make his next start for the Mets which will come after the All-Star break.
“We’ve been mostly floating with four starters for a while, so to have him step up and throw the baseball the way he did we’ll take a lot of encouragement from that because we’ve been needing that from someone and you can see he’s unafraid and you can see he’s on the attack,” interim manager Andy Green said. “So as painful as this moment is, those are good signs for our future to see a young guy step on the mound and pitch like that.”
Through three starts Thornton owns a 2.60 ERA (0.92 WHIP) in 17.1 innings. His last start against the Philadelphia Phillies which came on June 26 was also a good one after he went six innings while giving up one earned run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out seven and kept his pitch count to 78 pitches (54 strikes).
The back-to-back solid outings by the left-hander is a great sign considering he struggled somewhat in his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals on May 20, allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings.
“[He’s] just a guy who can mix and attack with aggression and he just needs to continue to repeat that and step on the mound,” Green said. “Not every time is it gonna be seven scoreless… but for us that is what we want to see out of him. There’s days that he’ll pop it up to 95 [mph] and he can use that to punch guys late in counts. Didn’t see a lot of that today, didn’t need a lot of that today so just encouraged three starts in. We knew him to be unafraid.”
After the game Thornton was asked about his performance and what it is he needs to do to continue pitching like he did on Sunday.
“Just get back to what I do best and throwing strikes with all five pitches,” he said. “... Super excited to be here and just keep contributing to getting wins around here.”
The 24-year-old also mentioned that his teammates giving him words of encouragement and telling him it’s the same game up in the big leagues as he’s been playing his whole life has helped too.
After all, Thornton earned his right for the call-up earlier this season after owning a 3.32 ERA in 48 games (39 starts) in his career in the minor leagues, making him the next highly touted Mets pitching prospect.
“I think I belong anywhere,” Thornton said.
Thornton joins fellow rookie starters Nolan McLean and Christian Scott in the rotation, both of whom have shined as well, while other pitching prospects await in the wing.
“Zach Thornton was really good for his third major league start against a lineup that has hit left-handed pitching all season long and Luis Torrens called a great game for him,” Green said. “They kept hitters off balance the entire game, he missed barrels the entire game, he got some punchouts and it was fun to see. Encouraging for us as we look to round out the rotation.”
In a season where not a lot has gone right for New York, perhaps Thornton can be one of the few bright spots as the Mets look towards their future.
Continue reading...
The left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out five and throwing just 82 pitches (56 strikes). It was the best outing of Thornton’s young career which has seen him only make sporadic starts for New York – one in May, one in June and one in July.
But after his dominant outing, Thornton, at least for now, has earned a spot in the rotation and will make his next start for the Mets which will come after the All-Star break.
“We’ve been mostly floating with four starters for a while, so to have him step up and throw the baseball the way he did we’ll take a lot of encouragement from that because we’ve been needing that from someone and you can see he’s unafraid and you can see he’s on the attack,” interim manager Andy Green said. “So as painful as this moment is, those are good signs for our future to see a young guy step on the mound and pitch like that.”
Through three starts Thornton owns a 2.60 ERA (0.92 WHIP) in 17.1 innings. His last start against the Philadelphia Phillies which came on June 26 was also a good one after he went six innings while giving up one earned run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out seven and kept his pitch count to 78 pitches (54 strikes).
The back-to-back solid outings by the left-hander is a great sign considering he struggled somewhat in his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals on May 20, allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings.
“[He’s] just a guy who can mix and attack with aggression and he just needs to continue to repeat that and step on the mound,” Green said. “Not every time is it gonna be seven scoreless… but for us that is what we want to see out of him. There’s days that he’ll pop it up to 95 [mph] and he can use that to punch guys late in counts. Didn’t see a lot of that today, didn’t need a lot of that today so just encouraged three starts in. We knew him to be unafraid.”
After the game Thornton was asked about his performance and what it is he needs to do to continue pitching like he did on Sunday.
“Just get back to what I do best and throwing strikes with all five pitches,” he said. “... Super excited to be here and just keep contributing to getting wins around here.”
The 24-year-old also mentioned that his teammates giving him words of encouragement and telling him it’s the same game up in the big leagues as he’s been playing his whole life has helped too.
After all, Thornton earned his right for the call-up earlier this season after owning a 3.32 ERA in 48 games (39 starts) in his career in the minor leagues, making him the next highly touted Mets pitching prospect.
“I think I belong anywhere,” Thornton said.
Thornton joins fellow rookie starters Nolan McLean and Christian Scott in the rotation, both of whom have shined as well, while other pitching prospects await in the wing.
“Zach Thornton was really good for his third major league start against a lineup that has hit left-handed pitching all season long and Luis Torrens called a great game for him,” Green said. “They kept hitters off balance the entire game, he missed barrels the entire game, he got some punchouts and it was fun to see. Encouraging for us as we look to round out the rotation.”
In a season where not a lot has gone right for New York, perhaps Thornton can be one of the few bright spots as the Mets look towards their future.
Continue reading...
