Waldorf, Md. –– Andrew Thurman delivered a standout return to professional baseball in 2025, anchoring the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ rotation with 25 starts, a 7-2 record and a 4.94 earned-run average that ranked seventh in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The 33-year-old right-hander, absent from affiliated ball since 2017, also placed fourth leaguewide with 128 strikeouts over 130 1/3 innings, tying for the most starts among the circuit’s 10 teams.
Manager Stan Cliburn brought Thurman aboard after a winter workout in California, spotting velocity that recalled his prospect days. “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 under Cliburn arranged the session, where Thurman impressed across the board. Cliburn added, “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.”
Thurman’s consistency steadied a Blue Crabs staff that propelled the club to a 68-58 record, a 15-win jump from 2024 and second place in the South Division, 3 1/2 games behind the champion High Point Rockers. The Waldorf-based independent league team, drawing crowds to Regency Furniture Stadium along U.S. Route 301, leaned on starters like Thurman to post one of the ALPB’s top rotations, limiting opponents to a 4.78 team ERA.
The season began unevenly for Thurman, who posted an 11.32 ERA through his first three outings as he shook off eight years away. He rebounded April 27 with his initial victory since 2017, a 11-1 rout of the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars at home. Thurman worked five innings, yielding one run on four hits and three walks while fanning five. Momentum built June 8 on the road against High Point, where he logged a quality start: six innings, two runs on six hits and eight strikeouts in a no-decision.
July emerged as Thurman’s peak, with five starts of at least five innings each and no more than four runs allowed. He secured three consecutive wins, blanking the York Revolution 6-0 on July 2 with six innings of one-run ball and seven strikeouts; topping the Gastonia Baseball Club 5-3 on July 10 via five shutout frames; and outdueling the Louisville Bats 6-1 on July 16, scattering two hits over six innings with eight punchouts. Those efforts dropped his ERA to 5.24 midway through the summer, providing reliability amid the Crabs’ push for a playoff spot.
Thurman’s finest gem arrived August 30 at Lexington, where he completed seven innings for the first time all year, surrendering one run on eight hits and a walk while tying his season high with nine strikeouts in a 7-3 victory. That outing clinched his seventh win, capping a campaign that blended durability with command. Across his 25 turns, Thurman issued 52 walks against his 128 whiffs, holding foes to a .278 batting average in the hitter-friendly ALPB, where the league ERA topped 5.00.
Drafted 40th overall in the second round by the Houston Astros out of the University of California, Irvine, in 2013, Thurman inked a $1.4 million bonus and debuted that summer with the short-season Tri-City ValleyCats, posting a 3.60 ERA over eight starts. He advanced to full-season ball in 2014 with the Quad Cities River Bandits, logging a 3.38 ERA in 14 outings. A January 2015 trade sent him to the Atlanta Braves organization alongside. That year split between rookie and High-A levels, but injuries and inconsistency followed.
By 2017, Thurman landed with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Single-A Great Lakes Loons and Double-A Tulsa Drillers, where he made 12 starts with a combined 5.40 ERA before stepping away. The gap years kept him out of organized ball, though details on his pursuits remain private. His ALPB revival at age 33 echoed other late-career surges in the league, which emphasizes player development and second chances without minor-league affiliations.
As the Crabs eye 2026, with ticket plans already promoting giveaways and beer specials, Thurman’s role could expand if he opts to return. The league’s postseason all-stars, announced October 8, highlighted other aces like Lancaster’s Noah Skirrow, but Thurman’s unheralded consistency underscored the grit defining Southern Maryland’s brand of ball.
