Players · T · Pitcher · 2026

Zac Thornton

Age: 24
B/T: L/L
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 170 lb
Number: #49

Born: January 17, 2002 in Winona, MN, United States
MLB debut: May 20, 2026
Drafted: 2023, round 5
College: Grand Canyon

dbWAR: .7
IP: 84.1
ERA: 3.42
FIP: 4.51
K/9: 6.7
FIP−: 108

Zac Thornton is a starting pitcher for the New York Mets. In 2026 he struck out 63 batters over 84.1 innings across 15 appearances, 15 of them starts, going 5-6. His ERA of 3.42 is 18.3% lower than the league average of 4.18 — 8th of 22 on his team, and 155th of 538 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.51 FIP suggests that his ERA had some help behind him. He missed bats on 17.8% of swings (9.3% of every pitch he threw), walked 5.3% of the batters he faced and struck out 18.7%. His 0.7 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.

FIP4.51

K/96.7

WHIP1.13

WAR.7

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

																				Trend
2026	NYM	15	15	84.1	5	6	0	77	32	63	18	3.42	4.51	1.13	6.7	1.9	82	108	0.7	—

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2026. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	K%
vs LHB	110	103	22	4	6	19	.214	.264	.350	.273	17.3%
vs RHB	227	211	55	10	12	44	.261	.305	.450	.329	19.4%

Pitch sequencing

What Zac Thornton throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

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CutterFour-seamSweeperSliderSinkerCurveballChangeup

Select a count to see exactly what Zac Thornton throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.


Cutter	30.9%	388	88.6	2,411	51.5%	15.6%	89	.281	.786
Four-Seam Fastball	25.4%	319	92.3	2,282	49.5%	17.9%	87	.218	.644
Sweeper	15.4%	194	80.0	2,474	42.8%	24.4%	44	.205	.680
Slider	9.1%	115	84.7	2,400	38.3%	21.5%	35	.229	.786
Sinker	7.6%	96	92.3	2,301	46.9%	19.5%	21	.238	.511
Curveball	6.8%	86	84.0	2,373	48.8%	13.6%	22	.227	.579
Changeup	4.6%	58	84.4	1,840	41.4%	10.3%	17	.353	.882

Zac Thornton's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

Head to head

Put Zac Thornton beside up to three others.

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Zac Thornton

Similar players

Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

Michael WachaKC

ERA: 3.33
FIP: 4.32
SO: 154
WAR: 2.3

Very close

Justin WrobleskiLAD

ERA: 3.72
FIP: 4.20
SO: 115
WAR: 1.5

Very close

Emerson HancockSEA

ERA: 3.57
FIP: 4.00
SO: 126
WAR: 1.8

Very close

Matt WilkinsonSF

ERA: 3.65
FIP: 4.24
SO: 18
WAR: 0.2

Very close

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.