Position: RH RP
Born: 7/1/1993
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 210 lb
Acquired: Received in trade from Seattle for international bonus pool space, Nov. 2017
Career Stats
FutureSox Prospect Rankings
- #17 – 2018 Preseason
FutureSox Media
Accolades
- Futures Game, 2017
- Triple-A All-Star, 2018 Midseason
Scouting Report
Vieira was signed by the Seattle Mariners out of Brazil back in 2010. He spent two seasons in the now-defunct Venezuelan Summer League before reporting to rookie ball. Vieira began his career as a starting pitcher, but struggled to throw strikes consistently and battled numerous injuries. Thyago shifted to a bullpen role in 2014 in Low-A. He finally started to put it all together in 2016 and even earned his first major league opportunity in August 2017. Across Double-A and Triple-A in 2017, he pitched 54 innings with an ERA of 4.00. He struck out 46 batters and walked 22.
The White Sox acquired him in Nov. 2017 for $500,000 in international bonus pool space from the Mariners. He struggled with command in the early going, before improving quite a bit as the season went on. Overall, 2018 was unkind to the Brazilian fireballer at Charlotte (5.05 ERA) and Chicago (7.13 ERA). His walk rate spiked from 3.7 BB/9 in 2017 to 5.3 in Charlotte.
Vieira displays an aggressive attitude on the mound and his delivery features moving parts similar to a young Fernando Rodney. Vieira has an 80-grade fastball according to most evaluators and he generally sits in the 97-100 mph range. He has hit 103 mph in the past. He profiled as a high-leverage relief option due to the power curveball that he employs with the heater, but the White Sox released him after the 2019 season.