SAN DIEGO - Twenty two pitches into his major-league career, Jake Thompson glanced at the Phillies dugout and saw his new pitching coach, Bob McClure, coming toward him. Thompson, 22 and wide-eyed, arrived here as a touted prospect. The game humbled him within minutes.
Thompson's debut Saturday night in a 9-7 loss to the Padres was not memorable. He allowed four first-inning runs to a mediocre San Diego lineup and could not survive five innings. He walked more (two) than he struck out (one). He hit a batter. He threw a wild pitch.
There will be another day for Thompson, one of the key pieces acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade last summer.