Trent Thornton

BIOGRAPHY

Trent Thornton was born on September 30, 1993, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

After graduating from Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Thornton played college baseball at the University of North Carolina for the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman he went 12–1 with a 1.37 ERA in 29 games, as a sophomore he went 7–4 with a 2.73 ERA in 16 games, including 14 starts. In 2014, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League. As a junior, he went 3–7 with a 5.08 ERA in 28 appearances (four of which were starts). After his junior year, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft and he signed.

Thornton made his professional debut that season with the Short Season-A Tri-City Valley Cats and spent the whole season there, going 4–0 with a 3.27 ERA in 15 games (12 starts). On November 17, 2018, Houston traded Thornton to the Toronto Blue Jays for Aledmys Díaz. The Blue Jays added him to their 40-man roster a few days later.

With the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays, Thornton appeared in three games, compiling a 0-0 record with 11.12 ERA and six strikeouts in 52⁄3 innings pitched. In 2021 with the Blue Jays, he pitched to a 1-3 record and 4.78 ERA with 52 strikeouts over 49 innings.

On January 13, 2023, Thornton signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blue Jays, avoiding salary arbitration. On July 26, 2023, Thornton was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Mason McCoy.

Thornton signed a one-year deal with the Mariners following the 2023 season.