Ryan Thompson Helped Stabilize the D-backs Bullpen

The reliever came at the perfect and dominated as he helped turn the D-backs bullpen into a weapon for the postseason

This article is part of a series of player reviews for the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a surprising and marvelous year for the team as they won 84 games to make the postseason. They advanced to Game Five of the World Series before bowing out to the Texas Rangers. There are 54 players in all that had at least one at-bat or pitched at least one inning for the team this past season. They are being presented in reverse order of their aWAR (average WAR-Wins Above Replacement) produced, which is the average of Baseball Reference and Fangraphs WAR. These are their season stories.

Ryan Thompson stats in 2023 with the D-backs and in his overall career / Jake Oliver

Ryan Thompson started the 2023 season with the Tampa Bay Rays. He struggled to a 6.11 ERA over 18 games and 17.2 innings pitched. After being sent down for most of the season, the Rays cut bait on him. The Diamondbacks signed Thompson to a minor league free-agent deal in late August with an opt-out. It took one appearance with the Reno Aces to entice the D-backs to call up Thompson and add him to the 40-man roster. At the time, this was a big move to help a tired and overworked bullpen get a fresh late-inning arm. It proved to be one of GM Mike Hazen's biggest moves of the season.

In Thompson's first game on August 27th, he garnered a crucial save against the Reds in a shutdown inning. Over the final month of the season, Thompson quickly rose to the top of the bullpen hierarchy and became a trusted reliever of Manager Torey Lovullo. The sidewinder earned that trust after 10 straight scoreless appearances.

Over the entire final month, Thompson pitched 12 times over 12 innings and allowed just one run off of a home run. He struck out eight batters and walked only one with six hits allowed. That was good enough for a sparkling 0.75 ERA and strong 3.51 FIP.

It was clear that he would be the Diamondbacks' third-best reliever entering the postseason. This meant that Ryan Thompson would be relied upon quite a bit including perhaps working more than just one inning at a time.

In the Wild Card round, Thompson was magical as he worked out of a bases-loaded jam in Game One and shut the door in Game Two. Over those two games, he pitched 2.2 innings, one hit, one walk, and no runs allowed with two strikeouts. 

However, in the NLDS, he did hit a bump in the road. In Game Two, Thompson was his usual strong self pitching 1.1 innings and striking out one with no damage. In Game Three, he struggled. Over his inning of work, he allowed the Dodgers to get back into the game and threatened to tie the game as he allowed four hits and two runs. This wouldn't shake Manager Lovullo's trust in Thompson.

That would turn out to be well-founded as Thompson was one of the most important players for Arizona in the NLCS. Over his four games, he pitched 5.2 innings with three multi-inning appearances. He would give up just one run, five hits, two walks, and strikeout four hitters. This included him getting the win in Game 7 that sent the D-backs to their second-ever World Series. 

Unfortunately for him and the D-backs, Thompson would pitch only once in the World Series, in Game One. He allowed a hit and struck out one in an inning of work. Over the entire postseason, Thompson pitched 11.2 innings over nine games allowed three runs, four walks, and struck out eight. His ERA was 2.31 and his FIP was 2.91. His xFIP was 3.90.

On the season for his time with the D-backs, Thompson had a 3.33 FIP, 3.10 xFIP, and a 0.69 ERA. Thompson was magnificent in limiting contact and runners on base. His WHIP was a beyond above-average 0.54. He had his best BABIP number allowed ever in his career at just .152. It was a stellar first month for Ryan Thompson as he began his time in Arizona.

2024 Outlook and Status:

Ryan Thompson is set to be a part of the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen for the foreseeable future. Thompson is only now eligible for arbitration for the first time. He will go through arbitration for two more seasons after this one. That means that the 31-year-old reliever won't hit free agency until after the 2026 season. Expect to see plenty more of Thompson in the later innings in 2024. It's believed that he has locked up his spot as a set-up man for closer Paul Sewald. He'll form a strong trio at the end of the bullpen with Sewald and Kevin Ginkel as the D-backs look to get back to the postseason in 2024.