Jake Thompson is starting to look as he did last season when he arrived in Reading in the beginning of August. During his seven starts with the Fightin' Phils, Thompson recorded a 5-1 record with an ERA of 1.80. The expectations and hopes for the righty were as sky-high as Harry Kalas singing the song.But that is not how things have started for the Texan transplant. Through his first four starts, he gave up 14 earned runs and his record sat at 1-3 with a 6.63 ERA. However, none of Thompson's issues were mental.

"That was the frustrating part. It was all physical," Thompson said. "I had the right mindset and attacked hitters the right way. For whatever it was, I couldn't get my body in the right position to execute a pitch when I absolutely had to."Opposing batters from Pawtucket and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hit over .500 with runners in scoring position in April. This led to his worst pair of outings this season, by yielding five earned runs in each game before receiving the hook."I had to make some mechanical tweaks to get me back to throwing like I was at Reading last year." Thompson said.Those tweaks turned into a stretch that lowered his ERA to 3.33 during his second trio of starts. These three starts included a sequence of giving up just one earned run in a 21-inning stretch. His comfort level on the mound is "light years" from those first four starts."My performance shows it a little bit the first month, whatever it was, came quick and couldn't get comfortable. I've made a few changes and things are starting to come together at bit," Thompson said.His effectiveness in a two-strike, off-speed pitch has helped get that 'needed' pitch. In his May 20th start against Toledo, he started with a changeup in the early innings and a curve in the later innings.Toward the end of the game the changeup progressively got better.Opposing hitters are struggling to reach base, which is a major key in the turnaround. In his first four starts, Thompson surrendered 22 hits in those 19 innings along with eight walks. Across the next four games, (27 innings) he gave up just 16 hits and four walks. Thompson's most impressive performance of the season was in Toledo, when he pitched seven shutout innings and gave up only two hits.The lack of base runners was key in his eight-inning performance a week ago. He gave up three runs on just five hits. All three runs were solo homers. The first two home runs were errors in location."My ego got me a little bit. I tried to blow a hitter away with a fastball in the zone but he stayed on it and it left the yard," Thompson said.Thompson, 3-4 with a 3.48 ERA on the season, is a product of the Cole Hamels trade with Texas. He was originally drafted by the Tigers (second round) in the 2012 draft, right out of high school. He made his way to Texas during a trade deadline deal one year before the Hamels trade, which sent reliever Joakim Soria to Detroit.Manager Dave Brundage likes the 22-year old's presence on the mound."He has a good competitive bulldog look to him," Brundage said. "That's what we are looking for every outing."New Role...Severino Gonzalez has been removed as a starter and now sits as a long reliever. In his eight appearances with Lehigh Valley, he has pitched 20.1 innings and has a 2.66 ERA. His WHIP of 1.13 makes him a go-to guy out of the pen in long-relief.Bruised Appel...Mark Appel has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. Reading's Ben Lively has been called up to take his place. The righty has earned his promotion, by going 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA in nine starts this season in Double A. In 53 innings, he has 49 strikeouts and 15 walks.Bacon Bits...The IronPigs have not been known for their power since their move to the Lehigh Valley. However, they have been hitting with a ton of power this year, as they rank third among the International League in home runs (40) and slugging-percentage (.401)…Zach Efflin (5-0, 2.05) is among the pitching leaders in the lesser known stat categories. Aside from being tied for first in wins, he is second in opponents on-base average (.182), first in WHIP (0.80) and fourth in strikeouts (45)…Edward Mujica's rough and inconsistent season still has him atop the IL in saves (11).