Cubs' Lackey, Bosio hint Thames might be using PEDs
Milwaukee Brewers reclamation project Eric Thames is suddenly baseball's hottest player, leaving members of opposing teams perplexed, and, in some cases, suspicious.
Following the Brewers' three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, in which Thames continued his hot streak by going 6-for-11 with three doubles and a home run, Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio touched on the former Korean League MVP's resurgence.
"Well, the bottom line is (Thames) has hit the ball and we gotta figure out a way to get around (it)," Bosio said on "The Mully and Hanley Show," according to Patrick Redford of Deadspin.
"All that other stuff, I'll let other people worry about. But he's doing stuff that I haven't seen done for a long time. You start thinking about Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez when he went to the Dodgers, Barry Bonds. You're talking about some of the greatest players to ever play this game. So, yeah, it's probably a 'head-scratcher' because nobody knows who this guy is. And when he was here before, his body has changed. But, like I said, I'll leave that to everyone else and we're just gonna try to worry about how to pitch him better and get him out."
Bosio's comments came after he was asked if Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte's recent 80-game PED suspension meant that cheating was still the norm in the game.
Cubs right-hander John Lackey, who surrendered a solo home run to Thames in his last start, seemed to echo Bosio's thoughts on Thames' hot start.
"You watch film on recent stuff and try to figure out a way, you know, to get him out. But I mean, really even the homer hit the other way, I mean, you don't see that happen here very often," Lackey said, according to Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports, adding with a wink: "That's kinda one of those things that makes you scratch your head."
Thames, who struggled to perform consistently in his first three seasons in the majors, left to pursue a career in the Korean Baseball Organization in 2013. Nicknamed "God" throughout his time in Korea, he spent three seasons with the NC Dinos of the KBO, recording a combined 124 home runs, 382 RBIs, and 65 stolen bases.
Entering Thursday, Thames has hit an impressive .408/.500/.959 with seven home runs and 12 RBIs in his first 14 games.