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North Shore Tavern Mound Visit: Thompson is doing something new well in a tough stretch

You'd be hard-pressed to call this a particularly good season for Zach Thompson.

The 28-year-old right-hander was recently moved from the rotation to a hybrid pitcher role in the bullpen -- while the Pirates haven't called it a demotion, it sure feels like one -- and his 5.33 ERA/FIP, 15.7% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate all fall somewhere between uninspiring to just not that good.

You'd also be lying if you said he hasn't had extended stretches where he's looked quite good, most notably from the start of May to the All-Star break, where he recorded a 2.