Charlotte Knights In Focus: Trayce Thompson

Trayce Thompson got a glimpse of Triple-A baseball a season ago. This year, Charlotte Knights’ fans are hopeful they will see plenty of the White Sox number two prospect and featured player in this week’s In Focus series.

Thompson hit 22 home runs last season for Winston-Salem to lead the Carolina League.

Thompson, a 21-year-old electrifying center fielder, had a breakout season last year for Winston-Salem as he led the Carolina League in home runs (22), extra-base hits (55) and RBI (90) before late season promotions to Birmingham (AA) and Charlotte. While a member of the Knights, Thompson played in just six regular season games before starting every postseason contest as the Knights fell in the Governors’ Cup finals to Pawtucket.

“It was a good year, I expected a little more out of myself in the first half and I came around a little bit in the second half,” Thompson said in an interview with Tyler Emerick of MLB.com. “It was a successful year, though. I learned a lot. There were peaks and valleys, but the end result, ending up in Triple-A and getting some playoff experience, I enjoyed that.”

In 2011, Thompson tore up the South Atlantic League hitting 24 homers while racking up 62 extra-base hits and scoring 95 runs for Kannapolis.

The second-round pick in 2009 out of Santa Margarita, Calif., not only has the talent to become a superstar but the bloodlines to back up that talent. His father is Mychal Thompson, the former number one overall pick in the 1978 draft by Portland and eventual two-time World Champion as a Laker. Meanwhile, his brothers, Mychel and Klay, have both played in the NBA. Most notably, Klay was the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft and is averaging over 16 points a game this season for the Golden State Warriors.

White Sox Farm Director and former Knights manager Nick Capra sees the potential in the youngest Thompson saying he has a chance to be a superstar, but has to continue to get better each season.

Hopefully for Knights fans, Thompson stops in Charlotte for a few months on his way to the Major Leagues.