PHOENIX, Ariz. — Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP) is most famous among Colorado Rockies fans for being drafted with the compensatory draft pick they received from the departure of Trevor Story. Thompson was drafted 31st overall in 2022 and finally made it to the bigs nearly three years later. Thompson was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on May 15, and made his MLB debut later that night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field.
Over the weekend in Phoenix, Thompson reflected on his first week in the big leagues.
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It started with a call to his parents after receiving the news from Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez.
“I called my parents first,” Thompson said. “I called my mom and then she called my dad over, and I told them the news. And she started crying.”
Thompson got to Coors Field and wasn’t immediately in the starting lineup, which gave him some time to take it all in.
“I was just on the bench soaking it in and enjoying the experience,” Thompson said.
But then he was called upon the eighth inning, so he quickly got ready to step up to the plate as a pinch hitter.
“And then I was in the cages and around the eighth inning, they told me I was up in the bottom of the eighth. I was the second one up. So that’s when I started to get my swings in, and then it was kind of quick from when I was told – it was like five minutes from when I was told to when I was in the box, so I had to get a few swings in. And I was the second one up that inning, and that’s how it was in the first debut.”
Thompson saw one pitch in his debut, grounding out to second and going 0-for-1 on the night.
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But he had one thought going through his head.
“It’s just like, ‘Here we go. This is everything that you’ve worked for and everything that you’ve wanted,’” he said. “It was kind of everything I pictured – how the debut would be.”
And despite the result, Thompson got the chance to take in everything and reflect on the moments that brought him here.
“It’s a long time coming of just remembering all the years of sacrifice my family put into it – all the days, the long late nights, early mornings – that led into that,” he said. “Just all of those emotions all at once. That’s kind of what I was feeling. It’s a great feeling that I got to the Show. There’s only a select few people that made it, so that’s kind of how I was feeling.”
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It took Thompson a few games to get into a groove, but he recorded his first hit in his third game — and it was a weird one! It was initially scored an error on Texas Rangers’ shortstop Ezequiel Duran, but then was changed to a hit by the official scorer.
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Thompson played in three games before being sent down on Monday, but then he was called right back up on Friday when Mickey Moniak was placed on the injured list.
“I got optioned on Monday and went to Vegas and played two games,” he said. “And on Friday I woke up with like 30 missed calls at 10:30. I had a flight at 1:00, and then got to Arizona around 4:00 pm and DH’d on that Friday night. So that’s been the whole process. It’s been a crazy week so far.”
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But it was nothing compared to Tanner Gordon’s epic journey the previous week.
“I had a nice straight flight – non-stop – but I heard about TG’s flight experience,” he said. “But [mine] was quick because when I woke up, they said I was going up, and then I didn’t see anything with the flight right away, and then it came and it was at 1:30. And it was like 11:30 at the time, so I hauled to the airport real quick and then got here [to Arizona] and did my little routine. It was crazy. And P-Lo wasn’t there – he was coaching third base – so Louie Lopez, who was the manager in Triple-A, called me. It was just cool to go and experience that and have ‘P-Lo’ at third base, too.”
Pedro Lopez coached third base for Warren Schaeffer on Thursday and Friday while everyday third base coach Andy González was at his daughter’s graduation. And the moment was not lost on either of them, as Lopez was the one who got to break the news to Thompson.
“When we told Sterlin that he was coming up, it was pretty cool,” Lopez said. “He actually made a baserunning mistake the day he got the call, so I brought him and we were talking about the baserunning, and I said ‘You can’t do that… if you do that and their manager wants to retaliate, you can get hit and you can get hurt.’ And then I told him, ‘And if you pull that tomorrow in the big leagues, I’m telling you right now you’re going to find yourself back in Albuquerque again.’
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“And he kind of looked at me,” he continued. “But Sterlin and I go way back – I saw this kid from how he started playing last year in the first month and how much progress he’s made. I keep saying it to this day, I thought last year he was the most improved player out of all in Albuquerque. So just to see where he is now is incredible.”
And Thompson had high praise for his managers.
“It was great, with all the work we put in at Triple-A, to experience that firsthand at the big-league level together,” Thompson said. “And the time he was here, and had that moment in the top of the ninth, it was pretty cool. I think all the guys – the coaches and Schaeff – have all been welcoming since I’ve been here and have helped me settle in all the way.”
But the biggest piece of advice he’s gotten so far?
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“Just go and play the game like you know how,” he said. “It’s the same game, so really just control what you need to control and the process of it, and go on doing the little things every day and be consistent at that. That’s something I’ve learned and just building each day at a time. [I’m] trying to get 1% better each day.”
And so far, Thompson has had some excellent moments. On Friday, he recorded his first extra-base hit — a double — and was driven in by Chad Stevens and waved home by Lopez.
“Here come the Isotopes!” indeed.
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He also recorded his first career RBI the next night, driving in Troy Johnston on a 3-1 groundout.
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Thompson hasn’t set the world on fire yet — going 4-for-24 with a double, two RBI, two walks and four strikeouts in nine games. However, he is showing what he can do and is working to get 1% better everyday like he set out to do.
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