Trayce Thompson may have once been a long shot to make the Los Angeles Dodgers roster this season, but the question now is why isn’t he playing more? Lately, Thompson has found his stride, and at 6’3”, 210 pounds, he is hitting with power you’d expect from an outfielder his size.
On a team that tends to struggle to score runs, Thompson should be on the verge of earning more playing time. Thompson, who recently turned 25 years old, is somewhat of an outlier in a basketball family.
He’s the son of former basketball star (and current Los Angeles Lakers radio announcer) Mychal Thompson, and his older brother, Klay, is an NBA All-Star and prominent member of the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
Trayce played little league baseball with former UCLA Bruin and current Cleveland Cavaliers’ standout Kevin Love. Upon graduating from high school, Thompson decided to forego an opportunity to play baseball at UCLA when he was chosen in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox.
After the 2012 season, Thompson was ranked the White Sox’ No. 2 prospect. He played sparingly for Chicago in the seasons after, and was packaged in a trade to the Dodgers last December. Entering Spring Training, the team had a crowded outfield which Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Alex Guerrero, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig and Scott Van Slyke.
Plus, utility man Kiké Hernandez, and Alex Guerrero, who spent played 29 games in left field last season. Thompson shares a house with young teammates Corey Seager, Pederson, Ross Stripling and Alex Wood.
Like his housemates, and most every other young player in the Majors, Thompson is striving to establish an identity for himself. However, given the Dodgers’ crowded outfield, that’s been met with some hurdles.
Thompson has benefitted from injuries to Crawford, Ethier and Van Slyke, and he’s taken advantage of the opportunity created. After a slow start to the season, the 25-year-old Thompson leads the Dodgers in RBIs, runs scored and home runs since April 25.
CONTINUE READING: Why isn’t Thompson receiving more playing time?
Through 39 games this season, Thompson has played in 30 and logged 77 plate appearances. He’s batting .292/.338/.611 with five doubles, six home runs, 14 RBIs, a .401 wOBA and 153 wRC+. Thompson is tied with Joc Pederson and Corey Seager for the team lead in home runs.
Thompson recently hit his first career pinch-hit walk-off home run against the New York Mets, and drew praise from his teammates and manager Dave Roberts. Seager marveled at Thompson’s cool demeanor, while Roberts noted the versatile outfielder made adjustments at the plate that are beginning to pay off.
Then on Monday, Thompson put together his first career multi-home run game. So why isn’t he playing more? The principle reason is the dreaded analytics, which factors heavily into how the Dodgers operate on and off the field. Thompson bats and throws right handed.
“Conventional wisdom” is that right-handers don’t always fare as well as left-handed batters against right-handed pitching. Thus, Thompson is largely platooning with Pederson in center field, though Roberts is adamant a platoon does not exist.
Thompson played all three outfield positions during the Dodgers’ recent road trip. But what will happen when Ethier, Guerrero and/or Van Slyke are ready to return from the DL? Thompson’s footing is far from stable.
If the Dodgers are wise, however, they will take this time to let Thompson play every day to showcase what he can do. That would allow for Thompson to continue growing and gain more experience, laying the building blocks for another of the Dodgers’ young, long-term pieces.