The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TAHNAJ Thomas had another dominant performance on the mound for Greensboro Grasshoppers in High-A baseball.

Thomas, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ No.7 ranked prospect, had eight strikeouts and gave up just two hits in four innings in last night’s 7-3 win over the Rome Braves at First National Bank Field in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The 21-year-old, 6’5” right hander struck out two of five batters he faced in the first inning, and two of the four he faced in the second. He retired the side in the third, concluding with his fifth strikeout of the game. In his final inning, he struck out three in the fourth before he was replaced by Austin Roberts.

In two appearances this season, Thomas has 15 strikeouts in seven innings and allowed just three hits, one earned run and four walks.

In his debut last week, Thomas struck out seven batters in three innings in an 8-4 win over the Hickory Crawdads. He gave up a solo home run in the top of the second inning, but that was the only hit he surrendered.

In the offseason, Thomas told MiLB.com that he intended to add his “slurve” and changeup to his 97-99 mph fastball to create a three pitch arsenal.

Last season with the Bristol Pirates of the Appalachian League, Thomas got the start on both opening day and in the regular season finale. He finished with a 2-3 win-loss record which also included 59 strikeouts - the most for any Bristol pitcher since 2012. In 12 starts, he pitched 48.1 innings with a 3.17 ERA and 1.12 WHIP.

In 2018, Thomas was traded to the Pirates organisation from the Cleveland Indians alongside Erik Gonzalez and Dante Mendoza in exchange for Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff.

As a rookie with the Indians, he appeared in eight games (six starts) in the Arizona Rookie League and recorded a 4.58 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 27 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.