Keegan Cole Thompson (born March 13, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

organization. He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) debut in 2021.

Amateur career

Thompson attended

Cullman High School Cullman High School is the only public high school in the city of Cullman, Alabama as well as the largest high school in Cullman County, Alabama. The school is classified as a 6A school and belongs to the Cullman City School District. As of ...

in Cullman,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. As a sophomore in 2011, he was named Alabama's

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

after finishing the season with a 9–2 record and a 1.70 ERA along with batting .433 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs. He won the award once again as a senior in 2013 after going 9–2 with a 1.25 ERA, striking out 124 batters in innings pitched, along with hitting .420 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs. Undrafted out of high school, he enrolled at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

College career

In 2014, as a freshman for the Tigers, Thompson appeared in 14 games (with 12 being starts) in which he compiled a 5–3 record with a 2.01 ERA, earning him a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore in 2015, he pitched to a 7–3 record with a 3.10 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) in a season that was shortened due to elbow issues. He underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

in June 2015, and was forced to miss the whole 2016 season. Despite not pitching in 2016, he was still drafted by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in the 33rd round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

, but did not sign. He returned to Auburn in 2017 as a redshirt junior, compiling a 7–4 record and a 2.41 ERA in 15 starts.

Professional career

Thompson was selected by the

in the third round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

. He signed with the Cubs for $511,900. After signing, Thompson made his professional debut with the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

where he was 1–2 with a 2.37 ERA in 19 innings pitched. He began 2018 with the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs of the National League in Major League Baseball. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games a ...

, with whom he was named the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Pitcher of the Week twice. After compiling a 3–3 record with a 3.19 ERA in 12 starts, he was promoted to the

Tennessee Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

in June. He spent the remainder of the season with the Smokies, going 6–3 with a 4.06 ERA in 13 starts. Thompson returned to Tennessee to begin the 2019 season. He experienced elbow soreness. He was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

in April with an elbow injury, and only made two rehab appearances during the remaining months of the season. He was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was establi ...

following the season. There, he was 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA in seven starts. Thompson did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On November 20, 2020, the Cubs added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. On May 1, 2021, Thompson was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the next day, pitching a shutout inning of relief against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. On May 8, he recorded his first win after pitching three innings of relief against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He was put on the 10-day injured list at the end of the season with right shoulder inflammation and soreness. For his 2021 rookie year with the Cubs, he went 3-3 with a 3.38 ERA, 55 strikeouts, and 31 walks over innings. On April 9, 2022, Thompson was ejected for throwing at

Andrew McCutchen Andrew Stefan McCutchen (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants, New Y ...

of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. Thompson was also fined and suspended for three games. On September 29, Thompson earned his second career save after tossing three scoreless innings of relief against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. In 29 games (17 starts), he posted a 10–5 record and 3.76 ERA with 108 strikeouts across 115 innings pitched. In 2023, Thompson made 19 appearances out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for Chicago, recording a 4.71 ERA with 26 strikeouts across innings of work. He was optioned to the Triple–A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

to begin the 2024 season. In 24 appearances for Chicago, Thompson compiled a 2-1 record and 2.67 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 2 saves across innings pitched. Thompson was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Cubs on March 17, 2025. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Iowa on March 25.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Keegan 1995 births Living people Arizona League Cubs players Auburn Tigers baseball players Baseball players from Alabama Chicago Cubs players Eugene Emeralds players Iowa Cubs players Major League Baseball pitchers Mesa Solar Sox players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Sportspeople from Cullman, Alabama Tennessee Smokies players United States national baseball team players