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Contact: Keith Noonan, Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations
Phone Number: (301)-638-9788
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Thurminator Comeback: Blue Crabs Andrew Thurman Authors Tremendous Season in Return to Professional Ball
Thurman Finished Seventh in ERA, Fourth in Strikeouts
Blue Crabs Andrew Thurman came into the 2025 season having not thrown a professional pitch since 2017 with the Single-A and Double-A Los Angeles Dodgers Organization and had a season to remember. Thurman pitched every fifth day, tying the league high in starts with 25, finished seventh in ERA with a 4.94, and fourth in strikeouts with 128 among ALPB pitchers.
Manager Stan Cliburn signed Thurman after a workout in California early in the offseason, “The ball was just exploding out of his hand, you could tell why he was such a high pick years ago,” Cliburn said. A former player of Cliburn’s hosted the camp Thurman worked out at in California.
Cliburn continued “Thurman was a class act you could tell on and off the mound, was the best player in the entire camp, and turned into a true leader for us, he always was trying to help the team win even when he wasn’t pitching, he led by example,” Cliburn said.
Thurman turned out to be just what Cliburn was hoping for, helping the Crabs starting rotation be one of the better ones in all the ALPB with his consistency all season long.
After the first three starts of the year, Thurman had an ERA of 11.32 but stabilized that by picking up his first win in eight years, beating Hagerstown 11-1. Thurman tossed five innings, giving up one run on four hits. On June 8th, he had a quality start against the High Point Rockers, Thurman was excellent over six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, punching out eight.
July really stood out for Thurman, who was a model of consistency, throwing at least five innings in every start over that month with the most he gave up being four. Thurman won three straight decisions on July 2nd, 10th, and 16th lowing his ERA to 5.24 in the middle of the season. Thurman had his best start of the year on August 30th against the Lexington Legends. For the first time all year he went seven complete, he spread eight hits across those innings but only gave up one run while striking out a season high nine Legends earning his seventh and final win of the season. Thurman finished with a 7-2 mark in his return to the mound professionally.
Thurman was a second-round pick by the Astros back in 2013 (40th overall) and was apart of a blockbuster trade years after when the Astros traded Thurman, Mike Foltynewicz, and Rio Ruiz to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Evan Gattis and James Hoyt on January 14, 2015.
Stay tuned to bluecrabsbaseball.com and our social media pages for more information on the Blue Crabs upcoming 2026 season.
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About the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
The Blue Crabs play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, MLB’s Premiere Partner League. The Blue Crabs are set to kick off their 18th season of baseball at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland. For more information on the Blue Crabs, please call 301-638-9788 or visit http://www.somdbluecrabs.com for more information. For media requests, contact Keith Noonan at 301-638-9788.
About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
Celebrating its third decade, the Atlantic League is Major League Baseball’s first Professional Partner League, a player gateway to the major leagues, and a leader in baseball innovation. Over its 27-year history, the ALPB has sent over 1,450 players to MLB organizations while drawing over 48 million fans to its 10 state-of-the-art ballparks that stretch from New York to North Carolina. Follow the action at AtlanticLeague.com.