Lane Thomas

Lane Thomas

29-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Cleveland Guardians
Day-To-Day
Injury Wrist
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.
Sitting fourth straight
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 12, 2025
Thomas (wrist) isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Royals, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Saturday will be the fourth straight game that Thomas has sat out since getting hit on the wrist by a pitch Tuesday. There are currently no plans in place to put him on the injured list, though that may change if he's unable to take the field soon. Angel Martinez will start in center field Saturday and bat seventh.
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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
1
2
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
1
3/273/293/303/314/14/24/44/54/64/84/94/104/11987654321
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+31%
OPS vs LHP
2025
 
 
+174%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+36%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+32%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .896 348 54 13 45 22 .312 .371 .525
Since 2023vs Right .683 895 112 30 106 31 .229 .286 .397
2025vs Left .191 11 0 0 1 0 .100 .091 .100
2025vs Right .523 22 0 0 1 1 .200 .273 .250
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
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
+25%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+19%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+29%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .780 604 84 23 72 31 .267 .326 .453
Since 2023Away .708 639 82 20 79 22 .238 .294 .413
2025Home .500 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .500 .000
2025Away .400 31 0 0 2 1 .172 .194 .207
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
0.13
 
BB Rate
3.0%
 
K Rate
24.2%
 
BABIP
.217
 
ISO
.033
 
AVG
.167
 
OBP
.212
 
SLG
.200
 
OPS
.412
 
wOBA
.189
 
Exit Velocity
87.4 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
34.8%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.169
 
Expected SLG
.209
 
Sprint Speed
26.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
39.1%
 
Line Drive %
4.3%
 
Fly Ball %
56.5%
 
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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7 days ago
Red Sox hitters look like strong choices this week with four home games against the Blue Jays followed by an away series at the White Sox.
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12 days ago
Monday's top MLB DFS options on DraftKings include young slugger Junior Caminero as the headliner for a Tampa Bay Rays stack against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Spotlight on NL Central
13 days ago
Todd Zola debuts his Weekly Hitter Rankings for the season where a couple teams will be playing seven times over the next seven days.
RotoWire Roundtable: Updated Fantasy Baseball Top-300 Rankings
22 days ago
The latest update to the RotoWire Roundtable Rankings sees Jackson Chourio move into the back of the first round.
RotoWire Roundtable Rankings: Bobby Witt Claims the Top Spot
29 days ago
With Shohei Ohtani set for more days off and fewer steals this season, Bobby Witt Jr. has moved into the top spot in our Roundtable Rankings.
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
Still out of lineup Friday
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 11, 2025
Thomas (wrist) is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Royals.
ANALYSIS
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Remains out Thursday
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 10, 2025
Thomas (wrist) remains out of the lineup for Thursday's game versus the White Sox, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting out with bruised wrist
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 9, 2025
Thomas (wrist) is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's tilt against the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Suffers bruised wrist
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 8, 2025
Thomas was diagnosed with a right wrist contusion after making an early exit from Tuesday's game against the White Sox, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Pulled after HBP
OFCleveland Guardians
Wrist
April 8, 2025
Thomas was removed from Tuesday's game against the White Sox after getting hit on his right wrist by a pitch, 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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