Justin Thomas (baseball)

1. Amateur career

Thomas's amateur baseball career encompassed notable achievements at both the high school and collegiate levels, establishing him as a prominent left-handed pitcher.

Thomas attended Clay High School and Cardinal Stritch High School in Oregon, Ohio, where he was a four-year letterman for the varsity baseball team. During his high school career, he set the school record for most home runs and tied the school record for most home runs in a single season. Thomas was recognized for his performance by being named to the USSSA World Series first-team all-tournament team. He was also a two-time first-team All-GLL selection and earned first-team all-district honors. As a pitcher, he received an honorable mention selection and played a key role in leading Clay to a league championship. His overall athletic contributions were recognized with the team MVP award and the James F. O'Brian Award for Best Male Student Athlete. Beyond baseball, Thomas was a four-year letterman in golf and a three-year letter-winner in basketball.

1.2. College

After graduating from high school, Thomas attended Youngstown State University from 2002 to 2005. As a left-handed starter, he was instrumental in the Penguins securing a Horizon League Title in 2004, pitching the team into the finals and marking their first-ever appearance in the College World Series. In 2005, he was named First Team All-League and Horizon Pitcher of the Year. That season, he boasted a 7-5 record with a 3.42 ERA and recorded four complete games. Upon leaving Youngstown State, Thomas ranked second in school history for strikeouts with 250 and remains the only pitcher in the university's history to pitch back-to-back seasons with at least seven wins.

1.2.1. College accolades

Throughout his collegiate baseball career at Youngstown State, Justin Thomas earned several individual honors and achieved significant statistical milestones:

2003 Second-team All-Horizon League (5-5 record, 4.87 ERA, 80 strikeouts)
2004 First-team All-Horizon League (7-3 record, 5.11 ERA, 4 complete games, 82 strikeouts)
2005 First-team All-Horizon League (7-5 record, 3.42 ERA, 4 complete games, 83 strikeouts)
2005 Horizon League Pitcher of the Year
Three-time Horizon League Pitcher of the Week

2. Professional career

Justin Thomas embarked on a professional baseball career that spanned over a decade, playing in various leagues across North America, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. His journey included stints with multiple organizations, experiencing both the heights of Major League Baseball and the challenges of international play.

2.1. Major League Baseball (MLB)

Thomas's Major League Baseball career began with his draft by the Seattle Mariners and included appearances for several other MLB teams.

2.1.1. Seattle Mariners

Thomas was drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the 113th overall pick in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed with Seattle in June 2005 and made his professional debut with the Everett AquaSox of the short-season Class-A affiliated Northwest League.

In 2006, Thomas emerged as a promising prospect within the Mariners organization. He led all Mariners farmhands with 14 wins, finished second with 162 strikeouts, and ranked sixth with a 3.73 ERA. His performance earned him recognition as the California League Pitcher of the Week in August and MiLB.com's Class-A Advanced Playoff Performer of the Year.

The 2007 season presented challenges for Thomas. Promoted to the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, he began the season on the disabled list due to a strained left elbow. Upon his activation, he struggled with control problems, posting a 4-9 record with a 5.51 ERA and a career-high 61 walks.

In 2008, Thomas showed improvement with the Double-A West Tenn team, reducing his ERA to 4.32 ERA and improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio from 100 strikeouts/61 base on balls in 2007 to 106 strikeouts/56 base on balls. He was briefly placed on the disabled list again due to a left hand laceration but returned to work out of the bullpen. Thomas received a mid-season call-up to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, where he posted a career-low 3.71 ERA.

On September 1, 2008, the Seattle Mariners purchased Thomas's contract from Triple-A Tacoma, marking his major league debut on the same day against the Texas Rangers. In one inning of work, he yielded no runs, no hits, no walks, and struck out Marlon Byrd to end the game. Thomas pitched for the remainder of September with the Mariners, concluding the season with an 0-1 record and a 6.75 ERA. For the 2009 season, Thomas was re-signed by the Seattle Mariners to a one-year contract and placed on the 40-man roster.

2.1.2. Pittsburgh Pirates

On October 29, 2009, Justin Thomas was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was subsequently designated for assignment in November but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. On June 24, 2010, he was called up from Triple-A to replace Dana Eveland, who had been designated for assignment. On September 11, 2010, he notably gave up a walk-off home run to Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Thomas became a free agent on November 4, 2010, but re-signed with the Pirates on November 8. He again became a free agent on November 2, 2011.

2.1.3. Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox signed Thomas to a minor league contract on November 22, 2011. On April 4, 2012, the Red Sox selected Thomas's contract, adding him to their major league roster for their regular-season opener against the Detroit Tigers the following day. However, Thomas was optioned on April 27 to make room for Rich Hill, who had recovered from Tommy John surgery.

2.1.4. New York Yankees

On May 12, 2012, Justin Thomas was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees. He was called up from Triple-A on September 1 when the major league rosters expanded. Thomas was designated for assignment on September 25, and subsequently became a free agent on October 17.

2.1.5. Oakland Athletics

On November 21, 2012, Thomas signed a minor league deal with the Oakland Athletics that included an invitation to spring training. He exercised an opt-out clause in his contract on July 1, 2013, becoming a free agent.

2.1.6. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On January 5, 2014, Thomas signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was assigned to the Salt Lake Bees to begin the season. Thomas was released by the Angels organization on July 25, 2014.

2.2. Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB)

Following his time in MLB, Thomas ventured into international baseball, starting with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan.

2.2.1. Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

On July 8, 2013, Thomas signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. His debut in Japan came on July 31, 2013, against the Chiba Lotte Marines at QVC Marine Field (now ZOZO Marine Stadium). He started the game, pitching 4.2 innings and giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs, ultimately taking the loss. He did not secure a win during his tenure, finishing with 2 losses. On October 30, 2013, the team announced his departure.

2.3. KBO League (KBO)

After his stint in Japan, Thomas played in the KBO League in South Korea.

2.3.1. Kia Tigers

Thomas signed with the Kia Tigers of the KBO League on July 25, 2014, as a mid-season replacement player for D.J. Houlton. He pitched to a 4.44 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings with the team. On October 3, 2014, he recorded his first win in South Korea against the Doosan Bears, pitching 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts, with no runs. On December 27, 2014, Thomas was released by the Kia Tigers, as the club sought to acquire a starting pitcher with more extensive starting experience.

Year	Team	Games Played	Innings Pitched	Hits	Home Runs	Walks	Intentional Walks	Hit Batsmen	Strikeouts	Wild Pitches	Balks	Runs Allowed	Earned Runs	ERA	WHIP
2008	SEA	8	4.0	9	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	3	3	6.75	2.75
2010	PIT	12	13.0	21	3	5	1	0	5	0	0	9	9	6.23	2.00
2012	BOS	7	4.2	10	0	2	0	1	4	1	0	4	4	7.71	2.57
2012	NYY	4	3.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	3	9.00	1.00
MLB Totals (3 years)		31	24.2	42	4	10	1	1	11	2	3	19	19	6.93	2.11

3.2. Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) statistics

Year	Team	Games Played	Starts	Complete Games	Shutouts	No-Walk Games	Wins	Losses	Saves	Holds	Win %	Batters Faced	Innings Pitched	Hits Allowed	Home Runs Allowed	Walks	Intentional Walks	Hit Batsmen	Strikeouts	Wild Pitches	Balks	Runs Allowed	Earned Runs	ERA	WHIP
2013	Nippon-Ham	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.000	53	10.1	13	0	9	0	1	6	1	0	14	10	8.71	2.13

3.3. KBO League (KBO) statistics

Year	Team	Games Played	ERA	Complete Games	Shutouts	Wins	Losses	Saves	Holds	Win %	Batters Faced	Innings Pitched	Hits Allowed	Home Runs Allowed	Walks	Hit Batsmen	Strikeouts	Runs Allowed	Earned Runs
2014	KIA	10	4.44	0	0	2	2	0	0	0.500	210	46 2/3	55	3	19	1	51	26	23

3.4. Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) statistics

Year	Team	Games Played	Starts	Complete Games	Shutouts	No-Walk Games	Wins	Losses	Saves	Holds	Win %	Batters Faced	Innings Pitched	Hits Allowed	Home Runs Allowed	Walks	Intentional Walks	Hit Batsmen	Strikeouts	Wild Pitches	Balks	Runs Allowed	Earned Runs	ERA	WHIP
2015	Uni-President	22	22	1	0	0	5	8	0	0	.385	592	134.0	144	7	55	0	4	92	4	0	69	57	3.83	1.49

3.5. Uniform numbers

Throughout his professional baseball career, Justin Thomas wore several uniform numbers across different teams and leagues:

60 (2008)
65 (2010)
50 (2012 - part-season)
78 (2012 - part-season)
63 (2012 - remainder of season)
67 (2013)
58 (2014)
33 (2015)

3.6. Notable achievements

During his time in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Justin Thomas achieved a notable milestone:

First appearance and first start in NPB: July 31, 2013, against the Chiba Lotte Marines at QVC Marine Field (now ZOZO Marine Stadium), where he started, pitched 4.2 innings and recorded 4 earned runs, resulting in a loss.