2.66 Tampa Bay Rays - Jake Thompson, RHP, Long Beach State

The Rays spent the 66th overall pick on Jake Thompson.

Follow the jump for his pre-draft report.

Jake Thompson   Position: RHP   School: Long Beach State   State: CA   Year: Jr.   Height: 6’3’’   Weight: 225

Birth Date: 8/8/89   Seiler Rating: 2C2   Last Drafted: Never

Jake Thompson is a powerful collegiate right-handed starting pitcher from Long Beach State. Thompson originally came to Long Beach State from Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. He’s actually a year younger than a lot of his draft classmates, because he graduated high school early in favor of playing for Long Beach State a year early. That was especially important after missing his junior year due to transfer rules inside the state of California, which caused him to be ineligible for a year. His career with the Dirtbags started early, and he was successful in the starting rotation from the very beginning. He was used cautiously in his freshman year, and while he wasn’t dominating anyone, he was pitching to contact and getting weak contact. His sophomore year was actually a regression, though his leash was let out much more. Expectations were tempered as a result, and even though he improved greatly in his junior year, he still isn’t where a lot of people thought he would be. He still profiles as a possible number three starter, but he’s a little more risky than a lot of other college pitchers. His fastball is a plus pitch by itself, sitting 91-94, touching 96, and he adds in a fringe-average curveball and above-average to plus changeup. If Thompson can develop the curveball just a little more and have more confidence in the changeup, he could be a very special pitcher. However, with some risk, he’s expected to be more of a third to sixth round talent than first round talent, and he should be signable in that other range.