Lane

Thomas

Thomas pulverized the ball tonight, with his three hits all leaving the bat at 106-108 mph. His last double would have been a homer in 12 ballparks. This gives Thomas five doubles and a homer in his last five games, a span that’s raised his OPS from .653 to .720. Despite his usual struggles against right-handers, the Royals have been mostly forced to treat him as a regular with Kyle Isbel and Vinnie Pasquantino out, and he hasn’t fared too badly. However, with just four steals in seven tries, his fantasy upside isn’t what it used to be.

Thomas clubbed a solo home run off Gus Varland in the ninth inning for his fourth home run of the season. It hasn’t been a great season for the 30-year-old, but he has been playing more regularly with Vinnie Pasquantino hurt and Jac Caglianone moving to first base. Since June 1st, Thomas has gone 11-for-41 (.268) with three home runs, eight runs scored, and seven RBI. It’s not electric production, but he’ll lead off against lefties and could be an option in deeper formats for the next month or so.

The ironman sat out both games over the weekend with a minor thumb injury and will get a blow on Thursday after catching last night. It appears he’s still being handled cautiously. Carter Jensen is playing catcher and Lane Thomas has taken over in the 5-hole for Perez in a rare start against a right-hander in Rangers starter Kumar Rocker.

Caglianone was dealing with some soreness after running into the wall shoulder first during Friday’s game. “He’s just a little sore,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We don’t think it’s anything structural.” Lane Thomas will likely play right field if Caglianone can’t on Sunday.

Thomas set the tone for Monday’s eventual one-sided affair by crushing a 409-foot grand slam off Reds reliever Lyon Richardson in the opening frame. It was just his second big fly of the season. He matched a season high with three hits in the contest.

Thomas is still holding his own against lefties, hitting .244/.407/.356, but he’s been even weaker than usual versus righties this year, coming in at .173/.290/.192 thus far. His bat speed and his EV numbers aren’t what they used to be, so most of his value has come in the form of walks. It doesn’t really seem sustainable, so he might find himself out of work at some point.

Thomas returns to Kansas City’s lineup for the first time since May 19 after being limited by a relatively minor hamstring issue. The 30-year-old is in left field and hitting sixth on Tuesday night at Kauffmann Stadium.

Thomas remains on the bench for the third consecutive game due to an ongoing minor hamstring issue. The 30-year-old came off the bench during Wednesday’s series finale against the Red Sox, so it appears he’s healthy enough to play, if needed. The Royals are probably going to stay away from him as much as possible this weekend to give him extra time off to rest and recover.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters Thomas is available off the bench, but they’re going to try to give him some extra rest ahead of Thursday’s off-day. The 30-year-old suffered the minor ailment during Tuesday’s game against Boston. He’ll presumably be ready for Friday’s series opener against the Mariners.

Thomas is hitting just .212/.355/.271 on the season and has been relegated to playing mainly against left-handed pitchers. He was also caught stealing in this one. We’re not sure he’s going to find his way into any more playing time.