Thomas Shows His Ceiling in Baylor Win Over UCLA

Image credit: Baylor LHP Tyler Thomas (Photo courtesy of Baylor)

HOUSTON — If the first three weeks of the season are to be believed, and they probably should be, given the quality of the competition, Baylor has a true ace on its hands in fifth-year senior lefthander Tyler Thomas. 

On Friday in a 2-1 Baylor win over No. 23 UCLA, Thomas threw 8.2 innings, giving up four hits and one run with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts, every bit of which was important in a game where UCLA righthander Jake Brooks gave up just three hits and two runs, both on a two-run homer from Baylor right fielder Kyle Nevin, in an eight-inning complete game. 

In some ways on Friday, Thomas was exactly the pitcher he’s been at Baylor all along. Despite not having a fastball that lights up a radar gun—it’s a pitch that sits in the high 80s and touches the low 90s—hitters find him incredibly tough to hit thanks to a varied repertoire that includes a changeup and two different breaking balls and the way in which his fastball seems to play up off of those offspeed pitches. 

Certainly, UCLA had plenty of trouble. Until a Carson Yates pinch-hit solo homer in the ninth that banged off the wall above the Crawford Boxes in left field and a ninth-inning double for Daylen Reyes, the number of truly hard-hit balls off of UCLA bats could have been counted on one hand. 

“There were certain opportunities during the game where he just reared back and let it go and started throwing it by guys when he really needed that extra velocity on his fastball and that attack is what I really liked,” said Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez. “And then he was just obviously keeping the hitters off balance and letting the defense do their job.”

That piece of the performance tracks with Thomas’ history at Baylor. Opposing batters have never really hit him hard. He has a career .210 opponent batting average, and that mark was just .202 last season. In that way, he’s always felt right on the cusp of being a pitcher who could be a Friday starter as good as nearly any in the Big 12. 

The bigger issue for him — and what has kept him from being that type of pitcher in the past at times — has always been controlling his pitches. In 156 career innings coming into this season, he’d issued 115 walks, including a freshman season when he walked more than a batter per inning. 

But that’s changed in a big way this season, and that’s what stands to really unlock his ceiling. In three starts in 2022, against good competition in Maryland, Duke and UCLA, he has walked just three batters and struck out 24 in 20.2 innings. 

As for what’s spurred that change, some of it is simply being healthy and staying on the mound. Thomas is someone who has been through it all in his time in Waco, including a bout with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2019, and, of course, the pandemic, which cut short his healthy return in 2020. He was solid in the Baylor rotation last season in his first full healthy season in a while and he seems to have taken another step this time around. 

In terms of on-the-mound adjustments, Thomas has worked to attack hitters. 

“Getting ahead early, that’s very important,” Thomas said of the key to his improvement, both on Friday and in general. “You can see I threw some fastballs up, threw some fastballs out, got some swings and misses. That’s just kind of the emphasis, you get that first-pitch strike, the hitter is kind of on their toes. (It) gives you a chance to really get in there and dominate.”

Now, Thomas is in arguably the best run of form he’s had in his college career. He’s allowed four runs on nine hits this season, and his career-high 10 strikeouts Friday reset his previous career-high of nine, which he had just tied two weekends ago against Maryland. Just as importantly, he’s getting deep into games, as his innings output through three starts is nearly one-third of the way to a career-high number. 

Baylor couldn’t have asked for any more from him so far, and if this version of Tyler Thomas is the Tyler Thomas that shows up Friday after Friday for the Bears this season, an up-and-down career in Waco will be capped by a season in which he’ll keep his team in games every weekend.