Tyler Thornburg

Early life

At the age of 12, Thornburg played as an outfielder in little league baseball for the Sandy Springs All-Stars, which won the Georgia state championship, and reached the 2001 Southeast Regional final of the Little League World Series by pitching Sandy Springs past Vienna (VA) American 1-0.

Amateur career

Thornburg attended Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs, Georgia, where he played for the school's baseball team. He then enrolled in Charleston Southern University, where he played college baseball for the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, a member of the Big South Conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. With the Buccaneers, Thornburg played as a pitcher and outfielder. In 2010, he was twice named the Big South Conference's pitcher of the week. In the summer of 2008, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Winchester Royals of the Valley Baseball League, winning the league's Most Valuable Player award. He played for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2009.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Thornburg in the third round, with the 96th overall selection, of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed with the Brewers and pitched that year for the Helena Brewers in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. Thornburg began the 2011 season Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League, receiving a promotion to the Brevard County Manatees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League (FSL). Thornburg had a 7–0 win–loss record and 1.50 earned run average (ERA) with Wisconsin, and represented the Timber Rattlers in the Midwest League All-Star Game. He was named FSL pitcher of the week in his first week after the promotion. Thornburg participated in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game.

MLB.com ranked Thornburg as the Brewers' fourth best prospect heading into the 2012 season. The Brewers assigned Thornburg to the Huntsville Stars of the Class AA Southern League. He had an 8–1 record with a 3.00 ERA in 13 games started, and was named the Brewers' minor league pitcher of the month for May 2012. He was also selected to appear in the Southern League All-Star Game. Instead of making an All-Star Game appearance, the Brewers promoted Thornburg to the major leagues to make his debut for the Brewers on June 19, 2012 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was called up to make an emergency start, for the injured Shaun Marcum. In his debut, Thorburg allowed back-to-back-to-back home runs to Colby Rasmus, José Bautista, and Edwin Encarnación He also collected his first major-league hit with a double to left center in his first major-league at bat. He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League after the game.

Thornburg appeared in three games with the Brewers during spring training in 2013, but was cut on March 11 and assigned to Nashville. Thornburg was the Sounds' Opening Day starter, pitching 5 innings and giving up 1 run, earning a no-decision. On June 5, Thornburg was recalled, replacing the injured Marco Estrada. At the time, Thornburg was 0-7 with a 6.75 ERA in 12 starts. He made his 2013 major league debut that day against Oakland, pitching 2 scoreless innings of relief in the 6-1 loss. He recorded his first win in his next appearance, pitching 2 scoreless innings against Philadelphia on June 8. After the game, Thornburg was optioned back to Nashville, when Jim Henderson was activated off the disabled list. Thornburg made 3 more starts with Nashville before being recalled on June 29, replacing Caleb Gindl. He spent the rest of the season with Milwaukee, and pitched in 16 games (7 starts). In 18 games (7 starts) with the Brewers, Thornburg went 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, striking out 48 in 66.2 innings.

In 2014, Thornburg began the season in the Brewers' bullpen before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. Thornburg spent most of the 2015 season in AAA regaining his arm strength.

Prior to the 2016 season, the Brewers decided to make Thornburg a full-time reliever rather than the swing man role he had occupied up to that point in his career. Thornburg became the Brewers' setup-man and displayed career-best fastball velocity, reaching as high as 96 mph with his heater. He set the Brewers franchise record for consecutive innings without allowing a baserunner for a relief pitcher.

Boston Red Sox

On December 6, 2016, the Brewers traded Thornburg to the Boston Red Sox for Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon, and Josh Pennington. Thornburg would miss the 2017 season after starting the season on the disabled list with a shoulder injury and then in June was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, requiring surgery.

Scouting report

Thornburg has a 91-96 MPH fastball. Due to his velocity, size, over-the-top delivery, and repertoire, he has drawn favorable comparisons to Tim Lincecum. He throws two off-speed pitches, including a strong power curveball in the upper-70s, and a sinking change-up in the low-80s.

As a late-inning reliever/closer, Thornburg's fastball is consistently thrown around 94-97 MPH. His curveball is his primary off-speed pitch.