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2019 MLB Draft Preview: Matthew Thompson scouting report
The 2019 MLB Draft is just three weeks away — the first round kicks off on June 3, 2019 — its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #8, their second round pick is at #50, and they have Milwaukee’s competitive balance pick, acquired in the Alex Claudio trade, which is #41.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today, we are looking at Houston, Texas righthanded pitcher Matthew Thompson.
Matthew Thompson is a 6’2”, 185 lb. righthanded pitcher who pitches for Cypress Ranch High School in Houston, Texas. Thompson is considered one of the top prep pitchers out of the state of Texas, and is committed to Texas A&M. He is consistently described as athletic, and can hit the mid-90s, though his velocity this spring has been inconsistent, per reports. He also has what has been described as a slider and a curveball, though the slider may sometimes be the curveball when it isn’t breaking well. Either way he gets praise for his breaking stuff, though his changeup, as with most prep pitchers, is a ways away.
Baseball America has the high ranking on Thompson, at #47, though that is down from his #40 ranking earlier this season, likely due to inconsistency in his performances this spring. Fangraphs has him at #84 on their board, calling him “super smooth.” MLB Pipeline has Thompson at #79 on their board, saying he has #3 starter potential. Keith Law doesn’t have Thompson on his top 50 list.
Thompson checks boxes the Rangers look for in their prep pitchers, being described as athletic with a smooth delivery and “electric arm action,” as well as having the quality curve ball. Thompson will get dinged a little for being older — he turns 19 in August — but the Rangers have not shied away from older prep pitchers. He’s someone who the Rangers could look at, be it with the Milwaukee pick or in the second or third rounds.
Some video is below: