What years did Justin Thompson play?

Justin Thompson played in Major League Baseball from 1996 to 2005.

Was Justin Thompson a pitcher?

Yes. Justin Thompson pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 428 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Justin Thompson hit?

Justin Thompson hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.

What was Justin Thompson's career batting average?

Justin Thompson batted .071 over his career, with 1 hits in 14 at bats.

What was Justin Thompson's career ERA?

Justin Thompson finished with a 4.02 career ERA, going 36-43 with 428 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Justin Thompson have?

Justin Thompson recorded 428 career strikeouts.

Justin Thompson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1996-2005)

Justin Thompson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1996 to 2005 for the Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers, a span of 10 seasons. Across 103 career appearances, he went 36-43 with a 4.02 ERA and 428 strikeouts. Justin Thompson was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 2196.0.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 36–43

ERA 4.02

WHIP 1.34

SO 428

Pitcher PIV 2196.0

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 215 lb
Born: 3/8/1973 in San Antonio, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1996-05-27
Last Game: 2005-08-25
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Justin Willard Thompson

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Justin Thompson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
36	43	103	101	9	0	0	648.2	633	290	73	235	428	4.02	2196.0

Career ERA 4.02 vs. league average 4.49 across their career seasons — 10.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Justin Thompson — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1996	DET	AL	1	6	11	11	0	59.0	62	30	31	44	4.58	4.61 (+1%)	-427.0
1997	DET	AL	15	11	32	32	4	223.1	188	75	66	151	3.02	4.39 (+31%)	3240.4
1998	DET	AL	11	15	34	34	5	222.0	227	100	79	149	4.05	4.43 (+9%)	2141.9
1999	DET	AL	9	11	24	24	0	142.2	152	81	59	83	5.11	4.71 (-9%)	-2759.3
2005	TEX	AL	0	0	2	0	0	1.2	4	4	0	1	21.60	—	0.0
Career · 5 seasons			36	43	103	101	9	648.2	633	290	235	428	4.02	—	2,196

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Justin Thompson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
103	14	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	.071	.071	.071	.143	0

Career AVG .071 vs. league average .268 across their career seasons — 73.3% below league average.

Career OBP .071 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — 78.8% below league average.

Career SLG .071 vs. league average .424 across their career seasons — 83.1% below league average.

Career OPS .143 vs. league average .761 across their career seasons — 81.2% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Justin Thompson — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1996	DET	AL	11	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	DET	AL	32	2	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	DET	AL	34	7	1	1	3	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	DET	AL	24	5	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	TEX	AL	2	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 5 seasons			103	14	1	1	6	.071	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (206 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Justin Thompson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	53	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	50	14	1	1	0	0	.071

Pitching — Home / Away

Justin Thompson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	53	331.0	332	157	112	216	4.27
Away	50	317.2	301	133	123	212	3.77

Last 10 Games — Batting

Justin Thompson — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
2005-08-25	TEX	SEA	L	0	0
2005-08-18	TEX	CLE	L	0	0
1999-08-15	DET	LAA	L	0	0
1999-08-10	DET	TEX	L	0	0
1999-08-03	DET	CHW	L	0	0
1999-07-26	DET	CLE	L	0	0
1999-07-21	DET	KCR	W	0	0
1999-07-16	DET	HOU	L	2	1
1999-07-10	DET	MIL	W	0	0
1999-07-04	DET	MIN	W	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Justin Thompson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2005-08-25	TEX	SEA	—	0.2	2	2	2	0	0	1
2005-08-18	TEX	CLE	—	1.0	2	2	2	0	1	1
1999-08-15	DET	LAA	L	5.0	9	7	6	2	5	3
1999-08-10	DET	TEX	—	7.0	7	3	3	1	3	1
1999-08-03	DET	CHW	L	4.0	9	7	6	1	0	2
1999-07-26	DET	CLE	L	2.1	6	5	5	1	1	0
1999-07-21	DET	KCR	W	7.0	9	4	4	1	6	2
1999-07-16	DET	HOU	—	7.0	6	1	1	3	3	0
1999-07-10	DET	MIL	W	8.0	5	3	3	3	10	1
1999-07-04	DET	MIN	W	5.2	4	5	5	3	3	2

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Justin Thompson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	103	101	24	90	1	7

Season-by-Season Fielding

Justin Thompson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1996	DET	P	11	11	2	13	0	1
1997	DET	P	32	32	11	31	0	3
1998	DET	P	34	34	6	35	0	2
1999	DET	P	24	24	5	11	1	1
2005	TEX	P	2	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Justin Thompson — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	103

Salary History

Justin Thompson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2001	TEX	AL	$1,420,000
2000	TEX	AL	$3,025,000
1999	DET	AL	$650,000
1998	DET	AL	$400,000
1997	DET	AL	$198,000
1996	DET	AL	$109,000
Total Career Earnings			$5,802,000

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Justin Thompson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Justin Thompson: the record in brief

May 27, 1996 and August 25, 2005 bracket Justin Thompson's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. By club, Thompson's seasons break down as the Detroit Tigers (1996 to 1999) and the Texas Rangers (2005). Thompson played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on March 8, 1973, in San Antonio, TX, USA, Thompson was listed at 6 feet, 4 inches and 215 pounds. Justin Thompson was the playing name; the full given name is Justin Willard.

Thompson's career pitching line is 36 wins, 43 losses and a 4.02 ERA over 103 appearances. Thompson had 428 strikeouts. The leagues Thompson pitched in allowed 4.49 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 10.3% better than average. Thompson won 15 games in 1997, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.02 in 1997, when the league's was 4.39. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 2,196.0 for Thompson's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about Justin Thompson

What years did Justin Thompson play?: Justin Thompson played in Major League Baseball from 1996 to 2005.
Was Justin Thompson a pitcher?: Yes. Justin Thompson pitched in the major leagues, recording 36 wins and 428 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Justin Thompson hit?: Justin Thompson hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.
What was Justin Thompson's career batting average?: Justin Thompson batted .071 over his career, with 1 hits in 14 at bats.
What was Justin Thompson's career ERA?: Justin Thompson finished with a 4.02 career ERA, going 36-43 with 428 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Justin Thompson have?: Justin Thompson recorded 428 career strikeouts.