On December 23rd, the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed left hander Aaron Thompson off of waivers from the Washington Nationals. Thompson was a first round pick for the Florida Marlins in 2006. He was acquired by the Nationals in 2009 in exchange for Nick Johnson. He has made 68 starts at the AA level over the last three seasons, with a 5.01 ERA in 365 innings, with a 6.2 K/9 and a 3.6 BB/9 ratio. In 2010 he had a 5.80 ERA in 26 starts at the AA level, with a 6.3 K/9 and a 3.5 BB/9 ratio.
For more about Thompson, and all of the prospects in the farm system, check out the Pirates Prospects 2011 Prospect Guide.
I saw Thompson pitch in September against the Altoona Curve in the Eastern League playoffs. Thompson pitched four innings, allowing three runs on four hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. Below is video from the game, with Thompson going up against Pirates prospects Chase D’Arnaud, Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer, Matt Hague, and Andrew Lambo, with two plate appearances each.
Furthermore, let me know what you think of the new condensed style for the video recap. Rather than just uploading the individual at-bats, I cut out all of the down time, and only included the pitches, all in one video. I’m hoping to get back to uploading video, with at least one recap per week.
