Trayce Thompson Makes a Splash As the Dodgers’ Latest Reclamation Project

Trayce Thompson may not be the most accomplished professional athlete in his family — not when father Mychal Thompson and older brother Klay Thompson have six NBA titles and five All-Star selections between them — but for the first time in six years, he’s making significant noise of his own at the major league level. Now on his second stint with the Dodgers, the 31-year-old Thompson is in the midst of a modest breakout, one that could have ramifications for Los Angeles’ roster in October and beyond.
A night after the Dodgers clinched their ninth NL West title in 10 years, Thompson started in right field in place of Mookie Betts and followed a solo homer by Will Smith with one of his own, a 445-foot shot off Zach Davies. That tied the game at 2–2, though Los Angeles eventually lost in extra innings.
The homer was Thompson’s 10th of the season in just 205 plate appearances; he’s the eighth Dodger to reach double digits. Even with a September slump, the well-traveled outfielder has the highest wRC+ of any Dodger since the All-Star break and is tied for third in WAR, behind or alongside three players who are going to wind up somewhere on MVP ballots:
Player | PA | HR | AVG | OBP | SLG | wRC+ | WAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trayce Thompson | 130 | 8 | .279 | .377 | .595 | 168 | 1.9 |
Justin Turner | 131 | 5 | .330 | .397 | .565 | 168 | 1.4 |
Mookie Betts | 229 | 14 | .289 | .358 | .608 | 166 | 3.0 |
Freddie Freeman | 223 | 7 | .344 | .413 | .523 | 159 | 2.3 |
Max Muncy | 195 | 11 | .249 | .333 | .503 | 132 | 1.5 |
Gavin Lux | 123 | 2 | .294 | .366 | .459 | 132 | 1.0 |
Trea Turner | 227 | 6 | .303 | .344 | .479 | 130 | 1.9 |
Will Smith | 194 | 8 | .237 | .325 | .444 | 113 | 1.0 |
Joey Gallo | 94 | 5 | .173 | .287 | .420 | 100 | 0.3 |
Chris Taylor | 120 | 3 | .200 | .292 | .333 | 80 | 0.3 |
Cody Bellinger | 161 | 6 | .178 | .242 | .377 | 71 | 0.2 |
That’s pretty lofty company for a player who’s on his third organization and fourth team (including affiliates) this season. Thompson is yet another reminder of the Dodgers’ ability to find diamonds in the rough and turn them into championship-caliber cogs, a facet of their organization that’s been as essential as their player development pipeline. Turner was in his age-29 season when he became a mainstay in 2014, Taylor in his age-26 season in ’17, and Muncy in his age-27 season in ’18. Despite their staggered starts, they’re three of the Dodgers’ five most valuable position players since Dave Roberts took over as manager in 2016. Read the rest of this entry »