Former Yankees top prospect's season made a complete 180 before NYY came to Chicago

Once upon a 2024 season, the New York Yankees were nosediving into a disaster zone, forced to watch a nightmare unfold under the radar on the South Side of Chicago.

The Yankees and the White Sox represented the bottom of the barrel, record-wise, for a truly bleak summer stretch, before the Yankees steered slightly out of the skid and Chicago embarked on a record-threatening 21-game losing streak. And while there wasn't much to be jealous about at the bottom of the standings, Drew Thorpe's performance stood out.

Thorpe, sent from the Yankees to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade, was then flipped to the White Sox as the head of a package for Dylan Cease. In much the same way it was frustrating to watch Trey Sweeney block the Yankees from a Jack Flaherty acquisition, it was tough to swallow being outbid by your old trade chip (while keeping Spencer Jones away from the fire). It only hurt more when Thorpe was promoted to MLB for his debut on June 11, which coincided almost exactly with the Yankees' mid-June downturn and rotation implosion.

His signature changeup translated nicely to big-league action, and through his July 21 start against the KC Royals (six shutout frames), his ERA sat at a cool 3.03, though his 4.68 FIP indicated regression would be en route.

So, why aren't the Yankees facing Thorpe this week? Well...

Former Yanks prospect Drew Thorpe won't be playing in Yankees-White Sox series

Said regression hit Thorpe immediately, with 14 earned runs allowed in his next 5 2/3 innings pitched, eight of which were collected in 2/3 of an inning by the famously light-hitting Mariners. It appeared something was wrong, and that knee-jerk assessment was accurate; Thorpe hit the injured list with a flexor strain, and there isn't much else known about the full duration of his rehab process at the moment.

Thorpe remains an important part of Chicago's future, and there's less than no reason to rush him back in any capacity during this hopelessly lost season. He'll have plenty of opportunities to strike back against the Yankees in the future, but for now, he won't be a thorn in their competitive side this week.