Lane Thomas

Lane Thomas

29-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Cleveland Guardians
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Thomas' power fell off significantly in 2024 following his 28-homer breakout in 2023, but he was still able to turn in a top-30 outfielder season for fantasy managers thanks in large part to a career-high 32 stolen bases. The 29-year-old notched 28 of those 32 thefts with the Nationals, a team which was one of the most aggressive in the league on the basepaths. Thomas stole just four bags in six tries following a trade to the Guardians, so his running game outlook is a little cloudy as he heads into his first full season in Cleveland. At the plate, Thomas got off to a horrid start after the trade to the point that he wasn't even an everyday guy anymore. However, he finished strong with seven homers in September and another two in the playoffs. He should be viable in deeper leagues either way, but Thomas' ultimate ceiling in 2025 could depend on how much he and the Guardians want to run. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#172
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $7.83 million contract with the Guardians in January of 2025.
Pops first homer of season
OFCleveland Guardians
June 11, 2025
Thomas went 3-for-5 with a three-run home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 11-2 win over the Reds.
ANALYSIS
The 29-year-old outfielder put the cherry on top of the rout when he took Joe La Sorsa deep in the sixth inning. It was Thomas' first homer of the year in his 20th game as well as his first three-hit effort, as injuries have derailed the beginning to his campaign. He's started two of three games in center field since returning from his most recent IL stint, and even after Wednesday's big performance he's slashing just .164/.227/.224.
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Batting Stats
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2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
4
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
1
2
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+34%
OPS vs LHP
2025
 
 
+49%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+36%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+32%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .897 361 56 14 48 23 .311 .371 .526
Since 2023vs Right .671 924 114 30 107 31 .226 .282 .388
2025vs Left .583 24 2 1 4 1 .190 .250 .333
2025vs Right .390 51 2 0 2 1 .152 .216 .174
2024vs Left .878 145 18 4 16 13 .302 .386 .492
2024vs Right .646 383 47 11 47 19 .214 .279 .367
2023vs Left .948 192 36 9 28 9 .331 .375 .573
2023vs Right .719 490 65 19 58 11 .242 .292 .427
More Splits View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+15%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
+263%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+19%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+29%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .787 618 86 24 75 32 .269 .330 .457
Since 2023Away .685 667 84 20 80 22 .232 .286 .399
2025Home 1.083 16 2 1 3 1 .333 .500 .583
2025Away .298 59 2 0 3 1 .127 .153 .145
2024Home .651 277 33 8 21 17 .214 .292 .359
2024Away .773 251 32 7 42 15 .263 .327 .446
2023Home .887 325 51 15 51 14 .312 .354 .534
2023Away .689 357 50 13 35 6 .227 .280 .409
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Lane Thomas compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.20
 
BB Rate
6.7%
 
K Rate
33.3%
 
BABIP
.233
 
ISO
.060
 
AVG
.164
 
OBP
.227
 
SLG
.224
 
OPS
.451
 
wOBA
.207
 
Exit Velocity
86.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
29.5%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.153
 
Expected SLG
.185
 
Sprint Speed
25.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
40.9%
 
Line Drive %
9.1%
 
Fly Ball %
50.0%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Lane Thomas See More
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31 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Thomas took another improbable step forward last season, finishing as one of 19 MLB players to go 20-20 in 2023 while also surpassing the century mark in runs scored. It all added up to just a 109 wRC+ and 2.7 fWAR across 682 plate appearances, as Thomas' middling on-base percentage and defensive metrics dinged him. Traded twice earlier in his career, including in exchange for Jon Lester in 2021, Thomas was a popular name at the trade deadline, but Washington surprised many by holding onto the outfielder. While last season may very well go down as his career year, the Nationals clearly believe in the late bloomer's production. His low walk rate and issues with same-side pitching could catch up to him in time, but Thomas should be expected to be in the lineup every day under manager Dave Martinez to begin 2024.
Thomas revitalized his career in Washington with an .853 OPS in 45 games after he was acquired at the 2021 trade deadline, and he followed up with a solid campaign last year. He saw significant playing time in all three outfield spots and posted a 96 wRC+ with 17 home runs, 52 RBI, 62 runs and eight steals in 146 games. Thomas' numbers don't jump off the page, but he was a decent lineup piece for a Nationals team that is now in a full rebuild after shipping Juan Soto to the Padres. The RBI and run totals are likely to be stunted by Washington's weak lineup, but Thomas could be a depth option for fantasy managers in 2023, as he should receive plenty of playing time if he continues to put up similar numbers.
A fifth-round pick by Toronto in 2014, Thomas was traded first to St. Louis for international cap space and then to Washington last July in exchange for Jon Lester. He enjoyed a nice run with the Nationals following the move, slashing .270/.364/.489 with seven homers and four steals in 45 games. Because it was such a small sample, Thomas won't pop up on any leaderboards, but his Statcast hard-hit rate was pushing 50% after the trade. Many late bloomers have tempted us but failed to achieve sustained success, and Thomas may very well fit into that category in time, but the plate discipline was strong last year to go with the batted-ball profile. Plus this was not completely out of the blue; Thomas enjoyed a similar hot stretch at the major-league level with the Cardinals in 2019. This is not a bad flier to take if you need five outfielders, but know Thomas is still finding his footing in the big leagues.
It was reported in August that Thomas had tested positive for COVID-19. He returned to a reserve outfielder role at the end of the month, but Thomas simply could not provide the Cardinals with production, leaving the team little choice but to send him back to the alternate site Sept. 16. Thomas did not rejoin the club, but after a full offseason, he should be ready to compete for a roster spot in camp.
Thomas is one of 118 players in the history of MLB to hit a home run in their first major-league at-bat. He joined the St. Louis organization after being dealt from Toronto in exchange for international cap space. As Thomas has worked his way up the chain, he has positioned himself as the next candidate for Cardinals Devil Magic to strike where a seemingly average player performs at a higher level than his projections say he will. He doesn't have a great offensive profile, but will accept his walks and use his speed to take extra bases and swipe bases. The depth chart in front of him got a little less crowded after a couple outfielders were traded to Tampa Bay this offseason. There could eventually be an opportunity for Thomas to show what he can do with semi-regular work. He is a potential 15-20 steal guy with enough playing time.
More Fantasy News
Not in Tuesday's lineup
OFCleveland Guardians
June 10, 2025
Thomas is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest versus the Reds.
ANALYSIS
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Productive in return
OFCleveland Guardians
June 9, 2025
Thomas went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base in Monday's 7-4 loss to the Reds.
ANALYSIS
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Activated from 10-day IL
OFCleveland Guardians
June 9, 2025
The Guardians activated Thomas (foot) from the 10-day injured list Monday.
ANALYSIS
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Works out before Saturday's game
OFCleveland Guardians
Foot
June 8, 2025
Thomas (foot) went through a full pre-game workout Saturday, MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Resumes running
OFCleveland Guardians
Foot
June 4, 2025
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said Wednesday that Thomas (foot) resumed running for the first time since being placed on the 10-day injured list Friday, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could be trade chip
OFCleveland Guardians
December 2, 2024
The Guardians could consider trading Thomas, Will Sammon, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report.
ANALYSIS
Thomas hit only .209/.267/.390 in 53 regular-season games for Cleveland after being acquired via trade, but he did have an .855 OPS with seven homers in September before adding two more long balls in the playoffs. The 29-year-old is projected to earn more than $8 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and the Guardians might consider that money better spent elsewhere if they're able to net a viable trade offer for Thomas.
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