Cleveland Baseball Insider

Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2024 Season Top 50 Prospects: No. 49 RHP Tyler Thornton

Thornton held opposing batters to a .138 average over 50.1 innings collecting 79 strikeouts while posting a 2.66 ERA in 2023

Todd Paquette

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As we prepare for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you an up-to-date look at Cleveland Baseball Insiders' top 50 prospects.

Rankings are based off seeing the players live, watching video and having conversations with evaluators within and outside of the organization, as well as other writers. While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who make it eventually to the major leagues. Remember, Jose Ramirez was never a top-100 prospect nationally and players like Steven Kwan and Will Brennan weren't considered top-20 prospects in the Guardians organization by many outside publications.

The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.

Tyler Thornton - RHP

AGE - 23

BATS - L

DOB - 7/08/2000

THROWS - R

HT - 6'3"

DRAFTED - 2021, 17th Rnd

WT - 200

ETA - 2024

Thornton was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in the 17th round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Arizona State University. He made his pro-debut in 2022 with Low-A Lynchburg. In 2023 Thornton started the season with High-A Lake County and was later promoted to Double-A Akron to finish the season.

Scouting Grades

Fastball - 55

Control - 40

Slider - 45

Overall - 40

Cutter - 50

Thornton features a drop-and-drive delivery that he combines with a low three-quarters arm slot that creates a unique angle on his pitches to batters.

His best pitch is his fastball that sits 92-94 mph and can touch 96 mph. The high spin rate that he produces on the pitch combined with the low release point creates lots of swings and misses thanks to its deception and movement.

Thornton also throws a mid 80's cutter and an upper 70's slider. The cutter at times shows flashes as being an above average pitch while the slider grades out as average to below average. He will need to continue to work on and develop his secondary offerings to play off his fastball as he moves forward.

An area for concern is his command, which currently grades out as below average. He generates so much movement on his pitches his tends to miss his spots leading to a lot of deep counts.

2023 Stats

W

L

G

SV

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

SO/9

SO%

SO/BB

AVG

WHIP

ERA

FIP

5

1

40

10

50.2

23

18

15

32

79

14.03

37.3%

  2.47

.138

 1.09

2.66

4.08

Thornton started his 2023 campaign at High-A Lake County appearing in 29 games before being promoted to Double-A Akron in early August to finish the season. 

Overall Thornton appeared in 40 games posting a 2.66 ERA with 10 saves over 50.2 innings pitched striking out 79 batters.

Thornton led all relievers in the Guardians farm system in average against as he only allowed a ridiculous 23 hits over his 50.2 innings which led to a .138 average by opposing batters. 

His 14.03 SO/9 rate and SO% rate of 37.3% finished second in the Guardians farm system amongst relievers only trailing RHP Magnus Ellerts.

A couple of concerning numbers to an otherwise dominant season were his 32 walks leading to a 15.1% walk percentage rate that he will need to improve upon. Thornton also finished with a 4.08 FIP (fielding independent pitching) which suggests he had the benefit of some better than average defense leading to a lower 2.66 ERA.

2024 and Future Outlook

Thornton will likely begin his 2024 season back where he finished his 2023 season at Double-A Akron. If he finds success early, he will most likely earn a promotion to Triple-A Columbus at some point as well as a slight chance for an MLB debut later in the year.

Thornton does have a ceiling of a late inning relief option only if he can continue to develop another plus pitch to go along with his fastball. He will need to limit the number of walks allowed and show better command of all his pitches. His floor currently is that of a middle relief or mop-up option out of the pen.

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

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