Cubs' Thompson leads Pitchers of the Week

Keegan Thompson already had won a Carolina League Pitcher of the Week award this season with one dominant outing. He bettered himself the second time around.

The Cubs' No. 18 prospect tossed seven perfect innings last Thursday for Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach en route to Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors for June 11-17. Thompson also won the award for May 21-27 after he tossed six one-hit frames.

This latest gem, which came at home against Carolina on Thursday, was the best of his young pro career. The 2017 third-rounder pick threw 60 of his 84 pitches for strikes and matched a personal best with eight strikeouts. He was pulled after seven frames, having also matched his career high for innings pitched, which he set in his previous outing on June 8 at home against Salem.

• View the Offensive Player of the Week winners »

The 23-year-old right-hander, who did not pitch in 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been somewhat limited in his first full season, having not pitched more than seven innings or thrown over 93 pitches in any of his 12 starts with the Pelicans. Those highs help explain why he wasn't allowed to work deeper Thursday night, despite all the zeros on the board. The Pelicans' perfect game bid ended in the eighth inning when reliever Tyler Peyton gave up a one-out single to Mario Feliciano. The Mudcats ended up scoring four times in that frame and won, 4-1, despite Thompson's chase at history.

Despite the limits, Thompson has assimilated well into his first full-season environment.He owns a 3.19 ERA with 61 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 67 2/3 innings. His 0.92 WHIP, which dropped from 1.02 after Thursday's start alone, is the best among the 91 qualified Class A Advanced pitchers, while his .198 average-against ranks third.

Taken 105th overall last year out of Auburn, the Alabama native has earned his biggest praise for his curveball (a plus pitch, according to MLB.com) and his changeup. He also throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, and while he isn't known for his velocity, the whole package plays up thanks to his impressive control that was on full display in Thursday's outing.

"Tonight was the first night I had all four pitches working for strikes," Thompson told MiLB.com's Josh Horton. "I was just keeping them off balance, working up-and-down and in-and-out."

After being used primarily as a reliever last season at Class A Short Season Eugene and having to experience his first build-up to pro ball in the spring, the Pelicans starter feels things are finally clicking into place.

"It took a little bit of time [to adjust]," Thompson said. "Spring Training was a little bit of a grind, with dead arm and throwing every single day. In college, you had days you could take off. It was just getting my arm used to throwing every day. It was tough, but once Spring Training ended and I got through the first week or two of the season, my arm has kind of gotten used to it and it's been fun."

Below is the complete list of Minor League Pitchers of the Week for June 11-17:

League	Player	Team	MLB	Stats
International	Nick Kingham	Indianapolis	PIT	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Pacific Coast	Trent Thornton	Fresno	HOU	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Eastern	T.J. Zeuch	New Hampshire	TOR	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Southern	Zack Brown	Biloxi	MIL	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Texas	Riley Ferrell	Corpus Christi	HOU	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 0 GS, 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 9 K
California	Nate Bertness	Inland Empire	LAA	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Carolina	Keegan Thompson	Myrtle Beach	CHC	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Florida State	Connor Seabold	Clearwater	PHI	1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 CG, 9 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Midwest	Wyatt Marks	Beloit	OAK	0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
South Atlantic	David Parkinson	Lakewood	PHI	1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K