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Auburn baseball adds commitment from Frank Thomas III, son of Tigers legend

hunterby: Hunter Shelton10 hours agoHunterShelton_
Frank Thomas III
Photo via Frank Thomas III on Instagram

Butch Thompson and the Auburn baseball staff got some big news on the recruiting trail Monday evening. Frank Thomas III, the son of Tigers legend and MLB Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, has committed to AU.

A Class of 2027 prospect, Thomas III is a left-handed first baseman and outfielder who currently plays for IMG Academy (Fla.). He announced his decision via social media:

“I am super excited to announce my commitment to Auburn University! I want to thank god, my family, friends, teammates, coaches, and everybody else who has helped me throughout this journey. I especially want to thank my parents for all the sacrifices they have made to get me to where I am today, without them, I don’t know if any of this would’ve been possible. Also, I’d like to thank Coach Thompson and the entire Auburn coaching staff for giving me this amazing opportunity! WAR EAGLE!!”

Thomas III is a top-100 prospect in the 2027 class, according to Baseball America. The Tigers have already landed some perennial talent in the cycle and Thomas is far more than just a legacy name. He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds.

Perfect Game writes this of Thomas III as a prospect:

“Strong athletic build with good present strength and room for plenty more. Left handed hitter, sets up in a slightly open stance with a high hand load and a hanging front foot trigger, longer path into the zone but has the bat speed and timing to get the barrel there on time, easy strength and leverage at contact, lots of loud mid field barrel contact. 6.92 runner in the sixty. Primary first baseman on defense, has good fundamentals and some bounce off the bag and to the ball, plenty of arm strength for the position. Also worked out in the outfield.”

Thomas III, of course, has big shoes to fill. Frank Thomas, known as “The Big Hurt”, carved out a legendary career on The Plains. As a freshman for the Tigers in 1987, Thomas belted 21 homers and drove in 68 runs. He then led the SEC in average the next two seasons and was a consensus All-American. His .382 average, 49 home runs and 205 RBI all stand as top-five marks in program history, according to the school website.

The Chicago White Sox selected Thomas with the No. 7 pick in the 1989 MLB Draft. He went on to play for 19 years, 16 of which were on the South Side. He won back-to-back AL MVP awards in 1993 and 94 and was a five-time All-Star. He finished his career with the Athletics and the Blue Jays, his final season being in 2008 with both teams.

Thomas’ 521 home runs are tied for 20th all-time. He tallied 2,468 career hits, drove in 1,704 runs, hit .301 lifetime and finished with a .974 OPS. In 2014, he became the first-ever SEC player to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

Thomas III is now set to head to The Plains four decades after his father became an Auburn legend.