Ryan Thompson is something of a rare breed in Arizona. He’s a reliable relief arm. HE’s been a reliable relief arm since the Diamondbacks picked him up from the rubbish pile just before their playoff run in 2023. He made his Arizona debut in August of that season, recording a clean inning and picking up a save. Since his arrival in Arizona, Thompson has pitche3d in 128 contests and compiled 120.2 innings pitched. Over the course of that, his performance has been good for a 134 ERA+.
Surprisingly, Thompson is one of Arizona’s softer tossers these days. The submarine righty chucks his fastball up to the plate at a very pedestrian 91 mph. However, Thompson gets both great movement on his pitches and excellent deception on his release, thanks largely to his exaggerated submarine delivery. The metrics say that Ryan Thompson was not particularly stellar in high leverage situations in 2025. Yet, the right-hander did manage to still secure himself 17 holds and a save on the season, despite being the first set-up man, a sixth or seventh inning sort of guy. Thompson’s lone save of the season came on 30 April, when he was called upon to stymie a bullpen collapse against the Mets in New York. Corbin Burnes started the game and went six innings. Then, Jalen Beeks, Kevin Ginkel, Shelby Miller, and Justin Martinez combined to clear another two innings, but also allowed two runs. Thompson then came in and slammed the door shut.
Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, not even Ryan Thompson was able to avoid the injury bug. Thompson missed most of July and all of August with a right shoulder strain. His absence from the bullpen over that period was felt mightily as the Diamondbacks slid out of contention. Then, in the crucial month of September, when the Diamondbacks were trying to force their way into the playoffs, Thompson made 12 appearances. The opposition scored in only two of those outings. One can only wonder if the Diamondbacks might have made the playoffs after all had Thompson only missed half the time he did.
Tendering Ryan Thompson for 2026 was pretty much a no-brainer decision for Mike Hazen and the Diamondbacks. Unlike some of the other arms that went down in 2025, Thompson bounced back and returned to form before the season was out. Thompson’s biggest opponent at this stage is his age. He’ll be 34 in June. As a low-effort reliever, he can still look forward to a few more years in the Majors, assuming he avoids further injuries. As arbitration contracts are one-year affairs, the Diamondbacks have a low-risk, high reward player on their hands with Thompson. If he starts to break or fade, the contract is small enough and short enough that it will not negatively impact the team. On the flip-side, if he performs well, he will out-earn the value of the deal. That will make him either a decent trade target or a key member of a surprisingly competitive Diamondbacks team. Of all the pitchers looking to join the 2026 bullpen for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ryan Thompson’s name should already be written in using permanent ink.