Thurmond was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres out of Texas A&M University in the 24th round of the 1978 MLB Draft, but he chose not to sign. He was then drafted by the Padres in the fifth round of the 1979 MLB Draft, and he signed that time. As a rookie in 1983, Thurmond went 7–3 with a 2.65 ERA, and he was tied for ninth in the 1983 NL Rookie of the Year Award voting. In 1984, he had the best season of his career, going 14–8 with a 2.97 ERA as the Padres won the National League West. \n', '

He lost Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, giving up 4 runs in 3​2⁄3 innings, but it didn\'t matter in the end as the Padres overcame an 0–2 deficit in the series to beat the Chicago Cubs 3 games to 2. He was also the losing pitcher in Game 1 of the 1984 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, giving up only three runs, but only lasting 5 innings. Thurmond also started Game 5, and although he only lasted 1/3 of an inning, he gave up three runs again but earned a no-decision this time. \n', '

The 1985 season was sort of a let-down for Thurmond, as he went 7–11 with a 3.97 ERA (an entire run higher than 1984) and only started 23 of his 36 games. In 1986, Thurmond got off to a very rocky start, going 3–7 with a 6.50 ERA in his first 17 games (15 starts). On July 9, 1986, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Dave LaPoint.\n', '

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