Biographical

Portrait of Joe Thatcher

Joe Thatcher PCubs

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2019 Projections (Preseason PECOTA - seasonal age 37)
IP ERA WHIP SO W L SV WARP
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Birth Date10-4-1981
Height6' 2"
Weight230 lbs
Age42 years, 6 months, 21 days
BatsL
ThrowsL
0.62015
2016
2017
2018
0.32019
proj
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA- WARP
2007 SDN MLB 22 0 21.0 2 2 0 13 6 16 1 93 5.6 2.6 0.4 6.9 0% .197 0.90 3.26 1.29 84 3.43 71.0 0.5
2008 SDN MLB 25 0 25.7 0 4 0 42 13 17 4 88 14.7 4.6 1.4 6.0 0% .404 2.14 5.32 8.42 103 4.47 95.4 0.3
2009 SDN MLB 52 0 45.0 1 0 0 37 18 55 2 86 7.4 3.6 0.4 11.0 0% .321 1.22 2.65 2.80 66 2.24 47.9 1.5
2010 SDN MLB 65 0 35.0 1 0 0 23 7 45 1 84 5.9 1.8 0.3 11.6 0% .265 0.86 1.58 1.29 58 2.14 48.2 1.1
2011 SDN MLB 18 0 10.0 0 0 0 8 7 9 1 93 7.2 6.3 0.9 8.1 0% .259 1.50 4.59 4.50 96 3.66 85.1 0.1
2012 SDN MLB 55 0 31.7 1 4 1 30 14 39 2 95 8.5 4.0 0.6 11.1 0% .337 1.39 3.10 3.41 78 2.53 57.9 0.8
2013 ARI 0 22 0 9.3 0 1 0 12 6 7 1 102 11.6 5.8 1.0 6.8 0% .379 1.93 4.84 6.75 70 2.00 48.0 0.3
2013 SDN 0 50 0 30.0 3 1 0 28 4 29 3 97 8.4 1.2 0.9 8.7 0% .298 1.07 2.88 2.10 91 2.89 69.3 0.6
2014 ANA 0 16 0 6.3 1 1 0 13 1 2 0 88 18.5 1.4 0.0 2.8 0% .433 2.21 3.95 8.53 94 2.51 61.5 0.2
2014 ARI 0 37 0 24.0 1 0 0 23 3 25 3 106 8.6 1.1 1.1 9.4 0% .299 1.08 3.27 2.63 94 3.93 96.3 0.2
2015 HOU MLB 43 0 22.7 1 3 0 23 12 26 1 106 9.1 4.8 0.4 10.3 0% .361 1.54 2.97 3.18 78 2.43 56.7 0.6
2013 TOT MLB 72 0 39.3 3 2 0 40 10 36 4 98 9.2 2.3 0.9 8.2 0% .000 1.27 3.35 3.20 85 2.68 64.2 0.9
2014 TOT MLB 53 0 30.3 2 1 0 36 4 27 3 102 10.7 1.2 0.9 8.0 0% .000 1.32 3.41 3.86 94 3.63 89.0 0.3
CareerMLB4050260.7111612529127019938.73.10.79.343%.3171.323.173.38812.8865.16.2

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA-
2005 BRV A+ FSL 7 0 9.0 0 0 2 6 0 14 0 6.0 0.0 0.0 14.0 0% -.429 0.67 0.33 0.00 0 0.00 0.0
2005 HEL Rk PIO 6 0 7.7 2 0 2 8 1 10 1 86 9.4 1.2 1.2 11.7 0% -.538 1.17 3.88 3.51 81 4.05 79.8
2006 WVA A SAL 26 0 29.0 1 3 10 28 6 42 2 90 8.7 1.9 0.6 13.0 0% .361 1.17 2.34 2.48 59 3.06 64.3
2006 BRV A+ FSL 16 0 30.0 3 1 2 12 9 32 1 3.6 2.7 0.3 9.6 0% .157 0.70 2.64 0.30 0 0.00 0.0
2006 HUN AA SOU 4 0 5.0 1 0 0 2 2 6 0 71 3.6 3.6 0.0 10.8 0% .167 0.80 2.37 1.80 77 2.19 46.0
2007 SDN MLB NL 22 0 21.0 2 2 0 13 6 16 1 93 5.6 2.6 0.4 6.9 0% .197 0.90 3.26 1.29 84 3.43 71.0
2007 HUN AA SOU 14 0 16.3 1 0 0 11 2 20 0 93 6.1 1.1 0.0 11.0 0% .289 0.80 1.48 0.55 56 2.42 49.7
2007 NAS AAA PCL 24 0 21.7 2 1 1 19 7 33 0 101 7.9 2.9 0.0 13.7 0% .358 1.20 1.59 2.07 51 3.47 71.2
2007 POR AAA PCL 8 0 8.7 1 0 0 10 1 11 0 93 10.3 1.0 0.0 11.4 0% .400 1.26 1.69 1.03 54 5.21 106.8
2008 SDN MLB NL 25 0 25.7 0 4 0 42 13 17 4 88 14.7 4.6 1.4 6.0 0% .404 2.14 5.32 8.42 103 4.47 95.4
2008 POR AAA PCL 37 0 39.0 5 2 3 38 11 44 2 102 8.8 2.5 0.5 10.2 0% .330 1.26 2.89 2.77 67 3.38 69.1
2009 SDN MLB NL 52 0 45.0 1 0 0 37 18 55 2 86 7.4 3.6 0.4 11.0 0% .321 1.22 2.65 2.80 66 2.24 47.9
2009 POR AAA PCL 19 0 19.0 1 2 1 18 5 22 1 89 8.5 2.4 0.5 10.4 0% .327 1.21 2.76 1.89 64 2.89 60.8
2010 SDN MLB NL 65 0 35.0 1 0 0 23 7 45 1 84 5.9 1.8 0.3 11.6 0% .265 0.86 1.58 1.29 58 2.14 48.2
2010 POR AAA PCL 6 0 5.0 0 1 0 6 3 3 0 10.8 5.4 0.0 5.4 0% .353 1.80 4.78 3.60 0 0.00 0.0
2011 SDN MLB NL 18 0 10.0 0 0 0 8 7 9 1 93 7.2 6.3 0.9 8.1 0% .259 1.50 4.59 4.50 96 3.66 85.1
2011 LEL A+ CAL 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.0 0% .000 0.00 -0.06 0.00 73 3.57 73.0
2011 TUC AAA PCL 8 0 7.3 0 0 0 3 3 10 0 3.7 3.7 0.0 12.3 0% .200 0.82 2.68 1.23 66 1.59 32.6
2012 SDN MLB NL 55 0 31.7 1 4 1 30 14 39 2 95 8.5 4.0 0.6 11.1 0% .337 1.39 3.10 3.41 78 2.53 57.9
2012 LEL A+ CAL 1 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 76 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 0% .000 0.00 1.80 0.00 88 3.87 80.6
2013 ARI MLB NL 22 0 9.3 0 1 0 12 6 7 1 102 11.6 5.8 1.0 6.8 0% .379 1.93 4.84 6.75 70 2.00 48.0
2013 SDN MLB NL 50 0 30.0 3 1 0 28 4 29 3 97 8.4 1.2 0.9 8.7 0% .298 1.07 2.88 2.10 91 2.89 69.3
2014 ANA MLB AL 16 0 6.3 1 1 0 13 1 2 0 88 18.5 1.4 0.0 2.8 0% .433 2.21 3.95 8.53 94 2.51 61.5
2014 ARI MLB NL 37 0 24.0 1 0 0 23 3 25 3 106 8.6 1.1 1.1 9.4 0% .299 1.08 3.27 2.63 94 3.93 96.3
2015 HOU MLB AL 43 0 22.7 1 3 0 23 12 26 1 106 9.1 4.8 0.4 10.3 0% .361 1.54 2.97 3.18 78 2.43 56.7
2015 FRE AAA PCL 9 0 8.7 0 0 0 4 4 10 0 4.2 4.2 0.0 10.4 0% .211 0.92 3.02 1.04 81 1.92 42.2
2016 IOW AAA PCL 10 1 7.3 0 0 0 10 3 11 0 89 12.3 3.7 0.0 13.5 43% .476 1.77 1.94 6.14 65 5.14 113.5
2016 OKL AAA PCL 17 0 15.0 0 0 0 14 5 21 0 8.4 3.0 0.0 12.6 46% .378 1.27 1.92 3.60 60 3.94 87.0

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr%
2008 450 0.5356 0.4778 0.8837 0.6266 0.3062 0.9272 0.7813 0.1163
2009 794 0.5365 0.4244 0.7359 0.5610 0.2663 0.7531 0.6939 0.2641
2010 546 0.5348 0.4762 0.7308 0.6781 0.2441 0.7626 0.6290 0.2692
2011 180 0.5556 0.4778 0.7907 0.6800 0.2250 0.7794 0.8333 0.2093
2012 520 0.5250 0.4731 0.7276 0.6264 0.3036 0.7778 0.6133 0.2724
2013 676 0.5044 0.4896 0.7764 0.6686 0.3075 0.7939 0.7379 0.2236
2014 512 0.5859 0.5566 0.7860 0.7367 0.3019 0.8100 0.7031 0.2140
2015 411 0.5377 0.4477 0.7228 0.6787 0.1789 0.7467 0.6176 0.2772
Career40890.53660.47540.76450.64900.27310.79110.69150.2355

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2014-08-03 2014-09-12 15-DL 40 37 Left Ankle Sprain -
2012-10-10 2012-10-10 Off 0 0 Right Knee Surgery Patellar Tendon Debridement and Repair 2012-10-10 -
2012-07-26 2012-09-01 15-DL 37 33 Right Knee Inflammation Tendonitis - -
2011-03-22 2011-08-04 60-DL 135 112 Left Shoulder Surgery Exploratory 2011-05-02
2011-02-24 2011-03-22 Camp 26 0 Left Shoulder Strain Rotator Cuff -
2010-05-19 2010-05-21 DTD 2 2 Trunk Soreness Side -
2010-03-26 2010-04-22 15-DL 27 15 Left Shoulder Soreness -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2016 LAN $
2015 HOU $1,000,000
2014 ARI $2,375,000
2013 SDN $1,350,000
2012 SDN $700,000
2011 SDN $433,900
2010 SDN $412,700
2008 SDN $393,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
7 yrPrevious$6,664,600
7 yrTotal$6,664,600

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
7 y 45 dNick Brockmeyer, Platinum Sports1 year (2016)

Details
  • 1 year (2016). Signed by Cleveland as a free agent 12/17/15 (minor-league contract). Salary of $1M in majors. May earn additional $1.2M in performance bonuses. Released by Cleveland 3/28/16. Signed by LA Dodgers as a free agent 4/16/16 (minor-league contract). Released by Cleveland 8/14/16. Retired 11/16.
  • 1 year (2015). Signed by Houston as a free agent 2/13/15 (minor-league contract). Salary of $1M in majors. Contract selected by Houston 3/30/15. DFA by Houston 7/21/15. Released 7/28/15. Re-signed by Houston as a free agent 8/9/15 (minor-league contract). Contract selected by Houston 9/1/15.
  • 1 year/$2.375M (2014). Re-signed by Arizona 1/17/14 (avoided arbitration). Acquired by LA Angels in trade from Arizona 7/5/14.
  • 1 year/$1.35M (2013). Re-signed by San Diego 1/18/13 (avoided arbitration). Acquired by Arizona in trade from San Diego 7/31/13.
  • 1 year/$0.7M (2012). Re-signed by San Diego 1/17/12 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$0.4339M (2011). Re-signed by San Diego 2/27/11.
  • 1 year/$0.4127M (2010). Re-signed 3/3/10.
  • 1 year/$0.404M (2009). Re-signed 2/27/09.
  • 1 year/$0.393M (2008). Re-signed 3/3/08.
  • 1 year (2007). Acquired in trade from Milwaukee 7/25/07.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT W L SV G GS IP H BB SO HR BABIP WHIP ERA DRA VORP WARP
90o 0 3.2 4 79 0 54.2 38 18 60 4 .254 1.04 2.54 2.74 1.4 0.1
80o 0 2.6 3.4 69 0 47.2 37 17 52 4 .272 1.14 2.93 3.16 -1.2 -0.1
70o 0 2.2 2.9 61 0 42.3 35 17 47 4 .285 1.22 3.22 3.47 -2.6 -0.3
60o 0 1.9 2.6 56 0 38.3 33 16 42 4 .296 1.29 3.47 3.74 -3.6 -0.4
50o 0 1.7 2.3 50 0 34.6 32 15 38 4 .306 1.35 3.71 4 -4.3 -0.5
40o 0 1.5 2 45 0 31.1 30 14 34 4 .316 1.42 3.96 4.26 -4.8 -0.5
30o 0 1.2 1.7 40 0 27.4 28 13 30 3 .327 1.50 4.22 4.55 -5.2 -0.6
20o 0 1 1.4 34 0 23.2 25 12 26 3 .340 1.59 4.54 4.9 -5.4 -0.6
10o 0 0.7 1 26 0 17.6 21 10 20 2 .358 1.72 4.99 5.39 -5.1 -0.6
Weighted Mean01.72.249033.73014374.3031.333.673.96-4.0-0.4

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BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

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BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2010-10-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)i'm assuming you dont think the padre bullpen will have anything like a repeat performance, right?
(nicety from ca)
It's probably hard to believe without accusing me of being a biased fanboy about it, but I see them performing pretty close to that level. Here's the thing--Bell/Adams/Gregerson are all legitimately excellent pitchers, and the kind of guys who can replicate their success from year-to-year. Edward Mujica was unlucky in 2010, and is much better than his ERA indicates--have a look at his K/BB ratio of 12.0 for proof of that. Ernesto Frieri is a young pitcher with some promise who did well in his first stint in the bigs, and I expect him to be a bit better. Joe Thatcher should be there all season long in 2011. Ryan Webb has some upside and is the last option in the pen. This is a collection of fantastic pitchers who, if they are all together again, can perform just as well.

Will they *definitely* repeat? I'm not saying that. But if you asked me to pick one pen that could replicate its previous season, my money would be on the one in San Diego. (Marc Normandin)
2010-08-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)Care to gush about how studly the Pads' bullpen is? They remind me of the stacked Angels pen of ought-two.
(Functionary from Grey Cubicle, DC)
Well, the other night was a great example. They used four relievers--Ernesto Frieri, Joe Thatcher, Edward Mujica and Tim Stauffer--for three scoreless innings of relief. None of those three relievers are the key pieces in the bullpen (Heath Bell, Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson). Their "worst" reliever by ERA is Mujica, who has a K/BB of 11.6 thanks to 58 strikeouts and just five walks. (Marc Normandin)
2010-08-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)D'oh! Addendum: Care to expand on your praise of Heath Bell, Mike Adams, and Luke Gregerson, and add lauds and exultates for Joe Thatcher and Edward Mujica?
(Functionary from Grey Cubicle, DC)
Joe Thatcher missed the beginning of the season, but in the 27 1/3 innings since he's returned, he's held lefties to a line of .149/.212/.255. Mujica is a beast in the K/BB department as I said. He's given up some homers but seems to have that little problem under control lately, and is flat out dominant at times despite being a back-end option.

Bell walks some hitters sometimes, but most of the hits against him are dinky singles, and he can bring it and whiffs plenty of batters. The only closer I trust more than Bell is Mariano Rivera. Luke Gregerson and Mike Adams would be closing for most of the other teams in baseball--even when Gregerson walks batters he's an ace reliever, but this year he's got the walks under control. This is not a Petco bullpen, this is a pen full of really, really good pitchers. (Marc Normandin)


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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC


Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Joe Thatcher threw 4,714 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2016, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2016, he relied primarily on his Cutter (84mph) and Slider (77mph).