Zachary James Thornton (born May 19,1988) is an American former professional baseballpitcher. He is currently the pitching coach for the UC Davis Aggies.
Thornton was born in Los Angeles,California,and grew up in Oak Park,California.[1][2] His parents are James and Robin Thornton (a New York native),and he has a brother named Sam.[3][4]
He transferred to the University of Oregon,to continue his college career with the Oregon Ducks. In his junior year in 2009,Thornton suffered a right shoulder injury,which he had surgically corrected,releasing the capsule to allow his shoulder to have unhindered internal rotation.[3][8] In his senior year in 2010 he was 9–0 (his 9 wins matching the Oregon single-season record,and his 1.000 winning percentage setting the Oregon single-season record) with a 3.40 ERA (10th in the Conference) in 90 innings in which he struck out 73 batters and walked 16,and was named Pac-10 honorable mention.[2][5][9] The Oakland Athletics selected Thornton in the 23rd round of the 2010 MLB draft,[10] and he signed.
In the 2013 season, Thornton pitched for the Bradenton Marauders of the High–A Florida State League, the Altoona Curve of the Double–A Eastern League, and the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple–A International League.[12] He was a combined 7–3 with 5 saves and a 2.63 ERA, and recorded 90 strikeouts to 12 walks in 75+1⁄3 innings, as he kept opponents to a .204 batting average.[12][14] His 31 strikeouts and 4 walks in Triple–A for a 7.75 K/BB ratio was fourth-best among International League pitchers with at least 25 innings pitched.[7] Thornton was named a MiLB.com Pittsburgh Pirates Organization All-Star.[17] He pitched for the Scottsdale Scorpions in 2013 in the Arizona Fall League, where he had a 3.07 ERA.[16][14] Thornton was considered a potential selection in the 2013 Rule 5 draft,[18][19] but was not selected. Thornton began the 2014 season with Indianapolis, going 2–0 with a 1.23 ERA.[12]
In 2015, Thornton pitched again for Las Vegas, going 4–4 with a 3.94 ERA in 63 games.[12] That winter Thornton again pitched for Navegantes del Magallanes, and was named the Venezuelan Winter League's Setup Pitcher of The Year.[12][22] In 2016, he pitched again for Las Vegas, going 0–3 with a 7.03 ERA.[12] Thornton elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2016.[23]
On February 1, 2017, Thornton wrote on Twitter: "I'm excited to announce that I will be playing for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic!"[26] He pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in March 2017.[21]
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