Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Though he was a lefty with some of the best pitchability in Texas' 2022 high school class, Thompson lacked the physicality and present stuff to prod teams to try to buy him away from his Vanderbilt commitment. Three years later, he's still 6 feet tall and still doesn't light up radar guns, but he's one of the better southpaws in the college crop. He's serving as the Commodores' Friday-night starter in 2025 and could land in the top two or three rounds.

Though Thompson's fastball camps at 90-93 mph and tops out at 95, it ranks near the top of college baseball in terms of getting strikes, chases and swings and misses both inside and outside of the strike zone. His heater features significant induced vertical break, and he also can command it to both sides of the plate. His second-best offering is a 77-81 mph sweeping slider that he uses primarily against lefties and can back-foot versus righties.

Thompson also can miss bats with his mid-70s curveball and low-80s changeup with mild fade but has more difficulty landing them for strikes. He has little effort in his delivery and repeats it well, so he could develop above-average control. He comes with a high floor as a No. 4 starter and might be better than that if his fastball continues to thrive at the next level.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Thompson went undrafted out of high school in Texas in 2022 and instead headed to Vanderbilt, where he became a starter as a sophomore and the Friday night arm as a junior. He posted a 4.00 ERA and struck out 122 over 90 innings in his final spring as a Commodore, and his 32.1 percent strikeout rate ranked fifth-best among SEC arms (one spot ahead of Oklahoma’s Kyson Witherspoon). Thompson was selected by the Brewers in the second round of the Draft and signed for slot value at $1,560,200.

The 6-foot southpaw doesn’t pop for velocity with a fastball around 91-94 mph (topping out at 96 in college), but it got incredible induced vertical break from his lowish release point. That, combined with the way he can hide the ball until late, led to a ton of whiff and chase on the four-seamer. He moved more toward a low-80s slider as a junior because it’s a breaking pitch he can throw in the zone more often than his upper-70s curveball. His low-80s changeup gets a ton of separation from the heater, leading to many empty swings in college, but pros may not chase it as much below the zone where the pitch lived frequently.

Thompson’s control was solid in college thanks to his repeatable delivery, and if he can land in the zone with more intent, he could unlock perhaps above-average marks in that category in the Milwaukee system. A touch more velocity would send the fastball into easy plus territory with its movement metrics, but even as is, there could be enough here for a No. 4 starter profile.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Though he was a lefty with some of the best pitchability in Texas' 2022 high school class, Thompson lacked the physicality and present stuff to prod teams to try to buy him away from his Vanderbilt commitment. Three years later, he's still 6 feet tall and still doesn't light up radar guns, but he was one of the better southpaws in the 2025 college crop. He served as the Commodores' Friday-night starter in 2025, and the Brewers took him in the second round, signing him for slot value at $1,560,200.

Though Thompson's fastball camped at 90-93 mph and topped out at 95, it ranked near the top of college baseball in terms of getting strikes, chases and swings and misses both inside and outside of the strike zone. His heater features significant induced vertical break, and he also can command it to both sides of the plate. His second-best offering is a 77-81 mph sweeping slider that he uses primarily against lefties and can back-foot versus righties.

Thompson also can miss bats with his mid-70s curveball and low-80s changeup with mild fade but has more difficulty landing them for strikes. He has little effort in his delivery and repeats it well, so he could develop above-average control. He comes with a high floor as a No. 4 starter and might be better than that if his fastball continues to thrive at the next level.

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	03/05/2026	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Milwaukee Brewers Prospects.
	08/04/2025	ACL Brewers activated LHP J.D. Thompson.
	07/25/2025	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to ACL Brewers.
	07/24/2025	Milwaukee Brewers signed LHP J.D. Thompson.
	06/03/2025	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to College Workout.
	02/05/2025	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Vanderbilt Commodores.
	06/04/2024	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Bourne Braves.
	02/25/2024	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Vanderbilt Commodores.
	02/08/2023	LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Vanderbilt Commodores.
	07/13/2021	PG National 6 - Navy activated LHP JD Thompson.