Most baseball fans had never heard of Ryder Ryan prior to trip to New York in exchange for Jay Bruce and many have likely already forgotten the name of that single A, right handed reliever who will likely be little more than a trivia answer in a decade.
What made Ryan particularly interesting was that when he played for North Carolina in 2016 (and in 2015), he was a position player. In particular, he was a very light hitter who had just one collegiate game pitched in his NCAA career before being drafted as a pitcher. Thanks to year round baseball, however, Ryan had a little more experience on the mound than that and the Indians scouts had a chance to check him out. They were particularly impressed by his slider and between 2015 and 2016 he played with the SBA Bones in a collegiate summer league, striking out 26 in 20 innings (2.70 ERA) while being used both as a starter and closer.
Because of this incredibly late start, his struggles early in the 2016 AZL and late with the Captains in 2017 are entirely forgivable. Players who were at the top of their draft class and had been pitching for years struggle when they first hit the pros (well, not Triston McKenzie, but certain other pitchers who were drafted ahead of him certainly have).
Of course, Ryan is gone now and whether or not the 30th round, low risk, potentially high reward is a success for the Mets has little bearing on the Indians. Also gone is Paul Hendrix, who was drafted in 2013 (18th round) as an infielder, mostly played third base from 2013 through 2016, then underwent the transition from fielder to pitcher midway through the 2016 season. I was fortunate enough to see him during the AZL season and the 2016 instructional league before he was sent back to Lynchburg for the regular season this year. It’s not surprising that a player who had even less pitching experience than Ryan prior to being drafted was unable to jump straight into high A and after struggling for the first half of the season, he was released the first week of August.
This is not to say the transition never works. In Indians history, the greatest ever to make the move was Bob Lemon, who began his Major League career as a catcher before becoming a Hall of Fame pitcher, but a much more recent and relevant example is Rafael Betancourt.
Betancourt was signed as an international free agent by the Red Sox and made his professional debut as a short stop in 1994. When seeing this you may think, “that must be wrong. He didn’t make his Major League debut until 2003 and no one spends a decade in the minors before having great Major League success.” Betancourt did just that. He played his first three seasons exclusively as an infielder and didn’t throw his first professional pitch until he was 22 in 1998.
Much like Ryan, Betancourt struck out a ton of batters, but wasn’t great overall and the Red Sox released him after the 1999 season. After pitching for two Japanese teams in the 1999-2000 off-season including a 1.17 ERA, 29 K’s and just six walks in 23 innings for Searex the Red Sox brought him back to the 2000 season, only to release him again at the end of the year. Betancourt then missed the entirety of 2001 and 2002 before signing with the Indians heading into the 2003 season. It was there he made his debut and became one of the greatest relievers in Indians history. A full ten seasons after his minor league debut.
So why does all this matter anymore? There is a new man attempting to add to the legacy of infielders moving to the pitcher’s mound. Tahnaj Thomas is only 18 and was signed out of the Bahamas last year as an infielder. He had a quicker start to his pitching career than Hendrix and is younger than Ryan. He began this year, his first professional season, in Extended Spring Training, then went to the Dominican Summer League to pitch all of three games before returning to Goodyear with the AZL Indians when their season began.
There’s no sugar coating it, Thomas’ numbers stink. He’s been used mostly as a starter (or in long relief after a rehabbing pitcher gets the start) and has had massive control issues, walking 23 and hitting two in 27.2 innings between the two leagues. He’s allowed 10 extra base hits and a league where those are rarer than errors (not quite, but it’s closer than it should be) and an ERA of 6.18.
Despite all that, there’s potential. On August 3rd, he was part of a four man no hitter over the AZL Mariners, pitching the third through fifth innings while allowing the only walk of the game and striking out five. He pitched poorly again in his next start, but has had five outings (of 12) where he didn’t allow an earned run and four where he struck out three or more despite never pitching more than three innings in an outing.
Thomas’ problems have almost all stemmed from a lack of control. On June 10th, he walked six batters in 1.1 innings, incredibly leading to just three runs (one earned). In only two appearances has he not walked a batter and most likely his tendency towards allowing extra base hits begins with being behind in the count. For Thomas, this could be great news. He obviously has the kind of stuff that made it worth signing him as an infielder and transitioning him to pitcher immediately (much like Ryder Ryan) and having seen him pitch on multiple occasions, I can confirm that there’s something there. While throwing harder and getting more movement on pitches can be incredibly difficult if not impossible to teach at the professional level, Thomas already has that. Now he just needs to learn to control it.
Further great news is that he just turned 18 in June and is in his first professional season. He will be able to continue pitching all year in Goodyear and in the AZL again next season if necessary before moving on to either Mahoning Valley or Lake County. The success rate for position players turning into pitchers is not good, but Thomas has the stuff, the youth and the early change that will give him the best possible chance. It’s likely going to be a long time down the road, but Thomas is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
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