ST. LOUIS — Connor Thomas will continue to be with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The former Tift County Blue Devil was named to their 40-man roster Nov. 15.

Thomas was selected by the Cardinals in the 5th round of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft out of Georgia Tech. St. Louis announced the move on social media Tuesday afternoon.

For the last 12 months, Thomas has been on the verge of making the big league Cardinals. He was was one of the last men sent to the Minors out of spring training in 2022, but was not called up during the season.

Had Thomas not been added to the 40-man roster, he would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft, based on the amount of years he has been in the Cardinals’ Minor League chain.

Solidifying Thomas’ case for the 40-man was his work this year in the Arizona Fall League. He was named Pitcher of the Year Nov. 12 after posting a 1.75 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 25+ innings. for the Salt River Rafters.

Not normally known as a strikeout pitcher, he fanned batters at a rate of 11.9 per nine innings, according to his stats. In the Minors, his next closest rate was 10.6 per nine innings, set at Springfield in 2021.

Thomas pitched three years for Georgia Tech, electing to sign with St. Louis after being picked in such a high round. It seemed that his trip to the Majors would be quick after he produced stellar numbers at Memphis and Springfield in 2021. (He pitched at Peoria and State College in 2019 before, like nearly every other Minors player, being without a season in 2020 because of coronavirus.)

After barely missing the Majors out of spring training this year, Thomas returned to Class AAA Memphis. After a solid first half of the season, he struggled in the summer. The Fall League was a welcome break and hopefully has Thomas on the Cardinals’ MLB radar again.

Talking to Jesse Borek in an article for MLB.com, Thomas credited his cutter for his success in the Arizona Fall League. “It’s just really kind of developed into a better pitch for me,” Thomas said.