Sam Thoresen is the exception rather than the norm. Most of the free agents the Cubs signed this summer after the draft are college seniors. Thoresen still had one year left to go in college and the Cubs saw something in him that they felt they needed to get him now.
Basic Info
Height – 6’3”
Weight – 215
Throws – Right
From – Minnetonka, Minnesota
Age – 21
Simply put, Thoresen is a big power right-handed pitcher who still has some room to add on to his body. He misses a lot of bats just as much as he misses his strike zone. As a junior, Thoresen struck out over 13 per nine innings while walking almost 10 per nine. He can throw a fastball in the upper 90s and has been a starter for most of the last year and a half. The Cubs likely feel that’s a pretty good floor to begin to build on with a pitcher. If the Cubs can work with Thoresen and improve his control and secondaries, he could be a middle of the rotation type starter. That is, if everything works out.
Thoresen’s freshman season in 2018 saw him get in 14 games, five as a starter. That workload is pretty much like most freshmen at a Big 10 school. Thoresen worked 35.1 innings and struck out 30, but walked 28 with a 5.86 ERA. That summer saw him head to the Northwoods League where he worked in nine games for the Waterloo Bucks. He continued his ability to strike out guys as he whiffed 22 in 27.2 innings.
As a sophomore in 2019, Thoresen saw some improvement. He made 12 starts with a 5.24 ERA. In just 46 innings, he struck out 69 batters. That’s a nice number, but it shows there’s some serious talent there. Then again, Thoresen could just be effectively wild. Either way, it’s pretty eye-catching. Then again, he walked 43 guys, almost a batter an inning.
One thing you notice amongst all the stats is that he does have a high ERA, but he’s not really getting knocked around. As a freshman, they hit just a little over .200 off of him and it dropped his sophomore year to .192.
Thoresen would spend the summer of 2019 playing for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod League. He got in 20.2 innings with a 5.66 ERA and also continued his theme of striking out a lot of guys. That summer, he added 28 Ks to his resume.
Unfortunately, the pandemic cut short his junior year as he only made two starts in his five appearances. Over 9.1 innings he struck out 19.
It’s clear that what the Cubs are dealing with here is a very raw pitcher. In watching him throw, he does remind me of Riley Thompson a little bit. Thoresen screams to be a pitch lab candidate. He could be somebody that the Cubs take to Mesa, put him in the pitch lab, begin working on some new grips, and then adjust his delivery to create a more consistent strike thrower without tinkering too much so that they lose what talent he does have. It’s a fine line, but the Cubs seem to be getting better at learning how to maximize the pitch lab and their technologies in the past year.
If there had been baseball this summer, Thoresen would be at Eugene and he would probably spend all summer there. He’d be in line to open up next year at South Bend. When 2021 does begin, Thoresen should still be in South Bend to begin the year.
When 2021 rolls around, I’m excited to see that arm in action.
Cubs Central 
[…] week saw several profiles on recently signed players – Jacob Wetzel, Bailey Reid, Sam Thoresen, and Luke Little. Next week, I will take a look at Bradlee Beesley, Koen Moreno, Jordan Nwogu, and […]
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