Included among the 19 non-roster players the Cubs invited to major league spring training was a 23-year-old pitcher with only one full season of pro ball under his belt. A season that was only played at the high-A level. But Thomas Hatch flashed the kind of potential during his time at Myrtle Beach that have some hoping he can help set a new trend for the organization’s pitching development.
Taken in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Hatch did not pitch that first season because he had thrown over 130+ inning at Oklahoma State after missing all of 2015 with an elbow injury.