White Sox rookie Drew Thorpe was put in a tough situation in the sixth inning. He had already thrown 84 pitches with the sun bearing down on him on a 90-degree day in Detroit. The heart of the Tigers order was coming up, and the White Sox were trying to give Thorpe his first career victory in the big leagues.
Thorpe was up for the challenge. He struck out Ryan Kreidler to open the frame after a six-pitch battle, then punched out Matt Vierling with another changeup for back-to-back strikeouts. On Thorpe’s 17th pitch of the inning, he capped off a 1-2-3 frame by getting Colt Keith to fly out the center field. It was an important moment for Thorpe and one that helped him earn a beer shower from his teammates after the game.
“I think that was real good developmental moment for him to go back out there and get those three outs,” Pedro Grifol told reporters after the game. “It was big no doubt. Not only for him but for us.”
Saturday’s performance marked a nice bounce-back performance for the MLB’s No. 54 prospect. Thorpe was coming off an ugly start against the Diamondbacks where he failed to make it out of the fourth inning after allowing seven earned runs on six hits and five walks against the Diamondbacks. However, he quickly turned the page and turned in his first quality start of his career in just his third start.
Thrope tossed six shutout innings and allowed just two hits. He did have some issues with command at times, allowing four free passes but managed to limit the damage thanks in part to five strikeouts.
“We all knew his stuff played here,” Thorpe’s battery mate behind the plate, Korey Lee said. “It was just a matter of time with him coming up here and getting comfortable and solidifying the fact he does work up here.”
Thrope is still learning with every start. Before taking the ball on Saturday the 23-year-old had just 20 professional starts across all levels. He navigated through the Tigers lineup with a healthy diet of fastballs and changeups. He threw his changeup 38 times, four-seam fastball 37 times slider 12 times, and cutter just five times. That mix resulted in 11 swings and misses.
The start is even more impressive when you consider Thorpe made the jump from Double-A Birmingham. As recently as 2022 he was pitching for Cal Poly at the college level. He doesn’t have much professional experience to lean on but has still managed to handle himself well on the mound in this early sample size. He does not show much emotion and always keeps a calm demeanor.
If the White Sox offense can give him the amount of run support they did during their 5-1 win on Saturday, then Thrope’s lone MLB win should have company very soon.
