Aaron M. Thompson (born February 28, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

Early life

Thompson was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He grew up in Beaumont, Texas, and then graduated from Second Baptist High School of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

in 2005. While there, he went 8-3 with two saves and 0.84

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 14 games as a senior, with 133

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and 35 walks in 66

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

s. Brother of Will Thompson, professional actor and creator of Free Native, and Luke Milstead, a two-time Texas academic All-State athlete.

Professional career

Florida Marlins

He had signed a

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

with

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, but was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

and joined the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

organization. While with the Marlins; Thompson was selected as organizational Pitcher of the Month, Player of the Week, and he represented his club as a member of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

All-Star Team.

Washington Nationals

The

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

acquired him at the 2009 trade deadline for

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Nick Johnson. He spent most of his time with the club's AA Harrisburg Senators affiliate as a starter.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The

claimed Thompson off waivers from the Nationals on December 24, 2010. On August 24, 2011, Thompson made his major league debut for the Pirates at

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, ...

. During the game, he pitched scoreless innings, before being relieved in the 2-0 shutout over the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. Following the 2011 season, Thompson played for the

Toros del Este The Los Toros del Este (formerly Azucareros del Este) are a baseball team in the Dominican Winter League established in . Based in the eastern city of La Romana, the Toros have won three championship series in their history, winning the title in ...

of the LIDOM.

Minnesota Twins

Thompson signed a minor league contract with the

on December 15, 2011. Between 2012 and 2013, he pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen, totaling 64 appearances. He also played the first half of the 2013 winter ball season with the

Aragua Tigres Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first ...

of the

LVBP The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

and was named "Setup del Ano" for the league that season. On August 30, 2014, Thompson was called up and added to the Twins roster. He pitched in seven games as a reliever, getting six strikeouts and posting an ERA of 2.45. In 2015, he joined the Twins bullpen and pitched primarily in a middle-relief role, contributing largely to the team's first-half success. Upon the return of Ervin Santana from steroid suspension, Thompson was demoted to Triple A Rochester where he finished the season. Over the following winter he would travel to play for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League. He was later released from the Twins at the end of the following Spring Training on April 11, 2016.

Sugar Land Skeeters

Thompson signed with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

Of The

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

following his release from the Twins and concluded his 2016 season with them.

Tomateros De Culiacán

Thompson pitched for

Tomateros de Culiacán The Tomateros de Culiacán ( en, Culiacán Tomato Growers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league titles and two Caribbean World Series in and . The ...

in the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

in 2017. Thompson retired from professional baseball in February 2017.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Aaron 1987 births Living people Baseball players from New Mexico Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Santa Fe, New Mexico Pittsburgh Pirates players Minnesota Twins players Altoona Curve players Carolina Mudcats players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Gulf Coast Marlins players Harrisburg Senators players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Suns players Jamestown Jammers players Jupiter Hammerheads players Mesa Solar Sox players Syracuse Chiefs players New Britain Rock Cats players Rochester Red Wings players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Canberra Cavalry players Sugar Land Skeeters players Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Australia