When the Cleveland Guardians acquired outfielder Lane Thomas from the Washington Nationals before the deadline, the move was met with positive reviews by the industry.
Theoretically, the Guardians needed an outfield and Thomas was a nice fit, having experienced a breakout in 2023.
He was also heating up at the time (.860 OPS in June, .766 in July), after a rough start to his 2024 campaign.
Unfortunately, his performance just hasn’t been there so far in his short stint in Cleveland.
On Sunday, he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Colin Rea and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The numbers since his arrival have been abysmal, for the lack of a better word.
“Lane Thomas since joining Cleveland: 6/53 with 23 K’s,” Brady Hamilton tweeted.
Lane Thomas since joining Cleveland:
6/53 with 23 K’s. #ForTheLand
— Brady Hamilton (@BradyH_216) August 18, 2024
Those stats include Sunday’s performance.
He was supposed to increase the ceiling of a productive, yet somewhat inconsistent Guardians offense.
Instead, he has lowered the unit’s floor.
As a Guardian, Thomas is hitting a paltry .113/.217/.151, with no home runs and just one stolen base.
It’s hard for manager Stephen Vogt to play him every day when he is playing like this, but he is talented enough to put it together under the right circumstances.
For the year as a whole, he entered Sunday’s game hitting .234/.317/.371 with eight round-trippers, 29 stolen bases and a rather mediocre .688 OPS.
He was much better last year, though, with a .268/.315/.468 line, 28 homers, 20 thefts and a .783 OPS.
The Guardians will try to help him reach his potential because that player is clearly of much help in their playoffs aspirations.
They will need a lot of patience, though.
NEXT: Stats Show Progress Made By Underrated Pitching Prospects On The Guardians
