Eric Thames Taking the MLB by Storm

By Djack

Talk about a renaissance, Eric Thames career has done a complete 180. The Brewers may have just hit the jackpot, a former prospect with the Blue Jays turned bust, has revamped his career with an unbelievably hot start to the 2017 season. Before this season I had no idea the MLB even had a player named Eric Thames, now every night I'm seeing that he hit another home run. Meaning one of two things, either this guy is juicing, or this guy just finally put it all together.

Thames like I said before was a Blue Jay prospect, wasn't supposed to be the next great thing, nonetheless he was still a valuable prospect. He was never quite able to put it together at the big league level, in 2011 he saw 362 at bats resulting in 12 home runs and a .263 BA, not terrible, definitely not great though. The thing that killed him at the big league level in his first tour was the fact he struck out almost as many times as he got a hit. After the 2012 season Thames decided to leave the MLB for Korea to find himself as a player by getting more consistent playing time against all different types of pitching. This move helped his ability to hit breaking balls a whole lot better since that's what they mostly throw in these Korean leagues. Thames dominated in Korea earning the nickname God, yes, they viewed him as a God that's how much pain he inflicted upon baseballs when he was over there.

Finally, after 3 seasons overseas Thames was able to make his way back onto a major league roster with the Brewers. In his second tour of the league he has seized the opportunity, grabbing the job by the balls. Thames has a batting average of .415, he's put 8 balls over the fence, and he's driven in 14 runs. Still seems to strike out a little more than you'd like to see, but nothing a ridiculous stat line can't cover up. With a hot start like this it's hard to imagine he can keep this pace up. If he does you're looking at a potential MVP and superstar in this league. It has happened before with the likes of Cecil Fielder, Luis Gonzalez, and Jose Bautista. All guys that ended up being nice surprises for their franchises leading to a big part of the team's success. Brewers won't be competitive whether or not he continues on his superstar pace, but it could help bridge the gap to the future. Don't question it, just enjoy it, because it probably won't last very long.