Taking a look at potential Texas Rangers draft pick JD Thompson
2025 MLB Draft Preview: JD Thompson scouting report
The 2025 MLB Draft is a little over a month away — the first round kicks off on July 13, 2025 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #12, their second round pick is at #52, and their third round pick is at #84.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at University of Arkansas pitcher JD Thompson.
JD Thompson is a 21 year old junior lefthanded starting pitcher at Vanderbilt University. Thompson matriculated from Rusk High School in Rusk, Texas, in 2022. Thompson worked sparingly out of the bullpen for the Commodores as a freshman in 2023, and has been part of the Vanderbilt rotation each of the past two seasons. He is listed at 6’0”, 199 lbs.
Thompson is a four pitch pitcher, with a fastball that is generally in the low-90s, though BA says he’s touched 96 mph with it. His fastball works well at the top of the zone and generates swings-and-misses. He throws a slider, a curveball and a changeup, and while MLB Pipeline lists his slider as his second best pitch, Keith Law has his change as his best secondary.
Pipeline talks about Thompson having been one of the “best pitchability” guys coming out of high school, though he doesn’t have great command. The fact that he’s relatively short is a concern, as is his relative lack of velocity, although he is athletic and reports indicate he has deceptive arm action.
Thompson had very similar sophomore and junior seasons for Vanderbilt, putting up a 4.15 ERA in 52 innings over 12 starts and two relief appearances in 2024, with 74 Ks against 18 walks, then following it up with a 4.00 ERA in 16 starts as Vandy’s Friday night starter in 2025, with 122 Ks against 30 walks in 90 innings.
Baseball America has Thompson at #61 on their top 500 list. MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings have Thompson at #61. Keith Law’s top 100 list has Thompson at #47. Kiley McDaniel’s top 150 list has Thompson at #59. Fangraphs has Thompson as part of their FV 40 group on their board.
Thompson is a guy who seems like a fit in the second or third rounds, though he could possibly go in the supplemental first as an underslot guy for a team looking to save some pool money to go big with another pick. He’s a (relatively) high floor/low ceiling guy, though his pitch mix makes him someone who, if things break right with him, could be a #5 starter for a major league team fairly quickly.
He’s a little reminiscent of Ryan Garcia, the 6’ righthander out of UCLA who the Rangers took in the second round in 2019 and then barely pitched for three years due to injuries. With a track record of performance in the SEC and four pitches to work with, he’s someone you could see the Rangers taking at #52 or #84.
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