Five years after arriving on The Hill, former Barton Community College pitcher Zach Thornton is set to reach The Show, making his Major League debut Wednesday evening for the New York Mets against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
Scheduled to draw the starting assignment for the Mets in Wednesday’s 5:45 p.m. Central Time first pitch, Thornton becomes the fifth former Barton baseball player to reach the Major Leagues, joining Steve Edlefsen, Nate Field, David Sanders and Jason Stanford. He is the first former Cougar to reach the big leagues since Edlefsen pitched for the San Francisco Giants during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
A two-year member of the Cougar program from 2020-21 through 2021-22, Thornton compiled a 16-1 record with a 3.23 ERA and 170 strikeouts across 139.1 innings over 29 appearances, including 28 starts. The Lawrence, Kansas native earned Jayhawk West Honorable Mention recognition as a freshman before collecting First Team All-Jayhawk West and First Team All-Region 6 honors in his sophomore season.
In his sophomore season, Thornton was dominate on the bump, going 9-0 with a 2.63 ERA across 15 starts while striking out 91 batters against just 26 walks over 78.2 innings.
Thornton transferred to Grand Canyon University for the 2023 season, where he posted a 9-2 record with a 3.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 88.1 innings during the 2023 season.
Following a standout three-year collegiate career at Barton and Grand Canyon, Thornton was selected by the New York Mets in the fifth-round of the 2023 MLB Draft with the 159th overall pick.
Thornton quickly emerged as one of the New York Mets top pitching prospects, highlighted by a breakout 2025 campaign in which he went 6-2 posting a 1.98 ERA with 78 strikeouts over 72.2 innings between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton. Entering the 2026 season, Thornton was rated as the Mets’ No. 7 prospect by The Athletic and No. 13 by MLB Pipeline before opening the year at Double-A Binghamton and earning a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse after just five starts.
In two starts with the Mets’ top affiliate at Syracuse, the left-hander went 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, allowing three runs on eight hits over 12 innings. He struck out 13 against three walks and held opponents to a .186 batting average before receiving his first call to the Major Leagues on Monday.
Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza told reporters Monday that Thornton’s recent performance, particularly at Triple-A Syracuse, made the decision an easy one. “[Thornton] earned it by the way he’s been throwing the ball, especially at the Triple-A level,” Mendoza said, “We like, as a lefty against this Nationals lineup, his ability to throw strikes.”
When speaking with the media on Tuesday, Thornton said his first call after learning of the promotion was to his father, Paul.
“He’s been with me every outing I’ve had in my life, Every game, he’s watched,” Thornton said, “I kind of owe that guy a lot.”
Both of Thornton’s parents will be in attendance Wednesday evening after spending the past months together in Chicago during Paul’s rehabilitation following a medical procedure earlier this year.
