Panthers draft pick Shaq Thompson had the worst minor league baseball career ever

Shaq Thompson was one of the most awesome prospects in the NFL Draft, a highlight reel on offense and defense in college. Now he’s been picked by the Panthers -- he’ll be a linebacker -- but it’s not the first time he’s been drafted by a pro sports team.

In 2012, Thompson was the 18th-round selection of the Boston Red Sox. He played one season of minor league baseball, for Boston’s lowest-level minor league team, in the rookie ball Gulf Coast League.

His batting average was 000. He had 39 at-bats. He struck out 37 times. If you were to calculate batting average based on how often a player put the ball into play rather than how often they actually got a hit, Thompson’s batting average still would’ve been an execrable .051. In July, he reported to Washington’s fall camp and his baseball career was over.

The story of how Thompson became the worst player in minor league baseball is an intriguing one, told in depth by MMQB’s Emily Kaplan. He wasn’t a stud baseball player. He was a stud football player, a five-star recruit and the No. 1 safety in the country. But the Red Sox were trying an interesting strategy.

Amiel Sawdaye, Boston’s director of amateur scouting, posed a challenge to his staff: Find us athletes. It doesn’t matter how unpolished; don’t be afraid to deviate from the typical mold. An intrepid area scout took the task to heart. He found the best athlete in Northern California.

That athlete was Thompson. He was a high school junior who hadn’t played baseball since sixth grade, but the Sox convinced him to give it a shot. He played -- poorly -- his senior year of high school, and when the Red Sox called his name, he reported to camp.

And he failed, over and over and over again. Luckily, it was only an experiment, and he had football to fall back on. And he was great at football. Now that Thompson has landed on his feet, we can look back and laugh at his truly horrendous baseball career.