Journeyman OF Wowing the Boston Red Sox as He Fights to Make Opening Day Roster

The Boston Red Sox didn’t play a spring training game on Monday, giving Grapefruit League pitchers a welcome break from one veteran who went to camp as a non-roster invitee after signing a minor league contract.

Trayce Thompson is impressing at Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. Entering their game Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, Thompson is hitting .391 with team highs in home runs (six), RBIs (12) and total bases (29) over 11 games. His on-base percentage is .533, and he has a whopping 1.261 slugging percentage.

The Red Sox signed Thompson on Feb. 17, and at the time, observers figured he’d provide depth at Triple-A Worcester. But Thompson, who turns 34 this week, has made it tough for the Boston brass to send him down.

The right-handed hitter was used exclusively in the minors in 2024, appearing in 107 games for Triple-A Syracuse (New York Mets) and Triple A-Iowa (Chicago Cubs). He hit a combined .233, slugging 23 home runs and driving in 66 runs but striking out 120 times.

Thompson, the brother of NBA legend Klay Thompson, initially was a second-round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2009 MLB Draft out of high school in Southern California. He played 44 games with the White Sox in 2015 before being traded later that year as part of a three-team deal that sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers and landed Todd Frazier in Chicago.

Since appearing in a combined 107 games with the Dodgers in the 2016 and ’17 seasons, Thompson has bounced around, going to the Oakland Athletics, back to Chicago with both the White Sox and Cubs, then to the San Diego Padres and back with the Dodgers before spending time with the White Sox again in 2023.

Along the road, he’s also played games for the Triple-A clubs of the Cleveland franchise, the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

He has appeared in 369 MLB games with a career average of .212, amassing 198 hits, 41 doubles, 45 home runs and 126 RBIs.

Why has he stuck it out with the game so long?

“I love the game, No. 1,” Thompson said, per MLB.com. “No. 2, I feel that I’m still athletically capable and I still have the energy. The battery is still charged to keep going. I still have the passion to see my potential through. I never had a stretch where I’ve been satisfied. I don’t think I ever will until I’m done playing.”

If he continues to play the way he has for the Red Sox this spring, that day should come later rather than sooner.

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