CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies liked what they saw from Jake Thompson last season. Pitching as a 21-year-old at Double A Reading, he went 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA in seven starts after coming over from the Rangers' system in the Cole Hamels trade.
Thompson wasn't necessarily the centerpiece of that seven-player blockbuster, but he pitched like it and, as a result, will likely front the Triple A rotation in 2016.
The front office that acquired Thompson, however, was shaped differently from the one he pitched in front of Thursday. Ruben Amaro Jr. was the GM who executed the Hamels trade. Matt Klentak didn't take over as Phillies general manager until October, so he didn't get to see Thompson's impressive series of starts with Reading.
In December, when asked about Thompson's chances to make the major-league rotation out of spring training, Klentak told CSNPhilly.com that it would be a consideration, but that spring training would be his first chance to watch the right-hander. "First impressions are important," Klentak said then.
Thompson made his first impression in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Astros at Bright House Field. It was his first-ever start in big-league camp, and he allowed one unearned run on three hits over two innings, walking one and striking out one.
"That's what this camp is for me," Thompson said. "Just getting acquainted with all the coaches, making sure they know who I am. I'm not scared of being out there, making sure everything goes smoothly."
It didn't all go smoothly. Thompson worked quickly in the first inning but ended up throwing 41 total pitches over the two frames because of third baseman Taylor Featherston's two-out error on a hard-hit but routine ground ball in the second. That play extended the inning, and Thompson went on to walk a batter with the bases loaded, forcing in an unearned run.
MLB
Even Thompson's first inning, despite it being scoreless, included two well-struck line drives. One was an opposite-field double by George Springer, the other a laced lineout by Preston Tucker that got Springer doubled off of second base.
In this first start, it was important to Thompson — who has sought advice from veteran righty Charlie Morton and catcher Carlos Ruiz during camp on mechanics and pitch sequencing — to get work in on all four pitches: fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. His fastball mostly sat at 91 mph, but he said he usually starts off around there before ramping it up as the spring continues. Last year at Reading, he threw in the 93-to-95-mph range, but his strikeout numbers weren't as high as they were in the Rangers' and Tigers' systems. Thompson said that was by design — he wanted to induce more ground balls, more weak contact and get quicker outs.
That is the plan again in 2016, Thompson said, no matter where he starts the season. It's probable that will be at Triple A Lehigh Valley, alongside other top Phillies pitching prospects Zach Eflin and Mark Appel.
"Wherever we end up, there's definitely gonna be a lot of internal competition," Thompson said. "I always describe it: If I go out and throw six good innings, Zach's gonna wanna go out and throw seven; if Zach goes out and throws seven, Mark's gonna wanna throw eight. I think it's good for everybody."
The game
The Phillies lost, 3-2. Odubel Herrera had a double and triple. Catcher Andrew Knapp, who seems to barely ever make an out, went 2 for 3.
Eflin succeeded Thompson and struggled with control, walking two and hitting a batter in two innings of work.
Once dominant closer Ernesto Frieri, a veteran non-roster invitee battling for a spot in the Phillies' bullpen, threw a lot of pitches in his one inning of work, walking one, striking out one and allowing a solo homer to Matt Duffy. He spoke earlier Thursday about why he thinks he can rebound in 2016 (see story).
Williams walks
Impressive outfield prospect Nick Williams, whom the Phillies and the Rangers before them wanted more plate discipline from, walked twice in his spring debut Thursday. The first was a four-pitch walk by Doug Fister, who has the lowest walk rate of any active major-league starting pitcher. That's baseball, as they say.
Williams later added an infield single.
Bourjos speed
Leftfielder Peter Bourjos showed off his speed on a few occasions Thursday. In his first at-bat, he grounded a ball hard down the third-base line. As soon as Astros third baseman Duffy had to dive for it, you could tell he had no chance. Duffy didn't even bother throwing.
Later on, Bourjos had second base stolen easily, but came off the bag on his slide and was tagged out.
Bourjos ended the afternoon 2 for 4 with a walk. One out was loud — a liner to the warning track in left.
Appel debuts
Thursday was a split-squad day for the Phillies, with the other half of the team traveling to Tampa to face the Yankees. Appel was the third pitcher up in Tampa and had a shaky debut for the Phillies, walking four batters and allowing a run in two innings of work.
The Phillies won that game in Tampa, 13-4. Maikel Franco hit a solo homer, Roman Quinn homered and tripled, Jorge Alfaro went 2 for 2 with a pair of RBIs and Darin Ruf drove in three runs. Rule 5 lefty Daniel Stumpf pitched two innings with three strikeouts and no hits or walks.
Pitching probables
Right-handers Jeremy Hellickson, Gregory Infante, Chris Leroux and Andrew Bailey are scheduled to pitch against the Braves Friday at Bright House Field. The game can be seen at 1:05 p.m. on The Comcast Network.
Aaron Nola will start Saturday's untelevised game at Dunedin against the Blue Jays.