Thomas went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, two walks and a second run scored in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Astros.
His first-inning blast off Framber Valdez was Thomas' first homer of the spring, but the two walks might be a better sign for his fantasy value in 2023. The 27-year-old outfielder recorded 17 homers and eight steals last year in his first full season in the majors, but if he can improve on his .301 OBP, Thomas could secure a spot near the top of the Nationals' order and improve on the career-high 62 runs he scored in 2022.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Avoids arbitration
Rotowire
Thomas signed a one-year contract with the Nationals on Friday to avoid arbitration.
Thomas posted a .705 OPS with 17 homers and eight steals in 2022 in his first full season with the Nats. The 27-year-old is slated to open the 2023 campaign as the right fielder and possible leadoff hitter.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Swipes eighth bag
Rotowire
Thomas went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a double and a stolen base in a 6-1 win Sunday in Miami.
Thomas singled, stole second base and scored in the first and doubled and scored in the ninth. It was his eighth stolen base of the season and third since Sept. 9. The 27-year-old has had a strong second half, posting a .285/.341/.480 slash line with eight homers and seven stolen bases in 54 games. Much of his success has come on the road as he has a .849 OPS outside of D.C. and a .571 OPS at Nationals Park.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Out of Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Thomas is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
Thomas started the past 30 games and will receive a day off after he posted a .298/.356/.524 slash line with six home runs, 14 RBI, 18 runs and three stolen bases during that stretch. Victor Robles will take over in center field and bat ninth in Sunday's series finale.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Launches solo homer in win
Rotowire
Thomas went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Marlins.
Thomas led off the scoring with his first-inning solo shot, which was his 16th of the season and his second this month. The outfielder has been on fire this month, going hitless in just two of 15 games. Thanks to a 10-game hit streak which included six multi-hit performances, and his current two-game hit streak, Thomas is slashing .252/.306/.425 and is gaining momentum as a target for fantasy playoffs.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Scores twice in win
Rotowire
Thomas went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored in Sunday's win over the Mets.
Thomas got the game started with a bang as he led off the game with a double off Carlos Carrasco and came around to score on a Luis Garcia single. Thomas would score again after hitting a single in the third inning. The multi-hit effort is his second in as many days and comes amidst a 15-game stretch entering Sunday in which he slashed .305/.369/.559.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Launches 15th homer
Rotowire
Thomas went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and a walk in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Mets.
Thomas put the Nationals ahead with an eighth-inning homer, then added insurance with an RBI single in the ninth. He's produced six multi-hit efforts in his last 17 games, going 20-for-68 (.294) with five long balls, four doubles, eight RBI and 11 runs scored in that span. The productive stretch has raised his slash line to .242/.296/.415 with 15 long balls, 44 RBI, 48 runs, five stolen bases and 20 doubles through 118 contests overall.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Swats 14th homer
Rotowire
Thomas went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run, two runs scored and two RBI in Tuesday's 10-6 loss to the A's.
He got Washington on the board with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, but the game quickly tilted Oakland's way after that. Thomas is providing some surprising power right now, and over his last 12 games, he's slashing .313/.340/.604 with four of his 14 homers on the year.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Production picking up
Rotowire
Thomas went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Reds.
Thomas' second-inning solo shot tied the game 1-1, though Cincinnati ended up grabbing the win. The long ball was his third in his past 10 games and extended his on-base streak to 11 contests. Thomas has hit .311 with three homers and two stolen bases over that stretch.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Records fifth steal
Rotowire
Thomas went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a stolen base in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Mariners.
Thomas continued his hot hitting with his third multi-hit effort during his eight-game streak. In that span, he's gone 11-for-34 (.324) with two home runs, three RBI, four runs scored and a pair of stolen bases. The 27-year-old outfielder had slumped a bit earlier in the month, but he's maintained regular playing time with Yadiel Hernandez (calf) on the injured list. For the season, Thomas is slashing .240/.287/.401 with 12 home runs, 39 RBI, 41 runs scored and five steals through 383 plate appearances.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Playing time ticking up
Rotowire
Thomas will start in center field and bat leadoff in Wednesday's game against the Cubs.
Thomas will pick up his fourth consecutive start and may have supplanted Victor Robles as the Nationals' preferred option in center field, at least for the moment. Even after providing a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-5 loss, Thomas is still sitting on a modest .665 OPS over 14 games in August.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Riding pine Saturday
Rotowire
Thomas isn't starting Saturday against the Padres.
Thomas started the last nine games and hit .242 with a home run, a double, three runs, two RBI and a stolen base. Joey Meneses will take over in right field and bat fifth.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Playing time picks up
Rotowire
Thomas will start in center field and bat leadoff in Sunday's game in Philadelphia.
Though he'll be covering center while Victor Robles rests in the series finale, Thomas may have temporarily recaptured a regular role in the corner outfield over Josh Palacios, who was on the bench for the previous two contests. Meanwhile, Thomas is sticking in the starting nine for the fifth game in a row after going 5-for-14 with a home run, a double, a stolen base, two RBI and two additional runs.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Steals third bag
Rotowire
Thomas went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Phillies.
Getting the start in left field and batting sixth against right-hander Noah Syndergaard, Thomas swiped his third bag of the season before rain ended the game in the fifth inning. The 26-year-old will likely split time with Yadiel Hernandez in left field down the stretch as the Nationals give youngsters like Josh Palacios a long look, but it doesn't appear as though Thomas will be stuck on the short side of a platoon. Through 92 games this season, he's slashing .235/.287/.298 -- numbers right in line with his career performance -- with 10 homers, 35 runs and 35 RBI.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Solo homer in loss
Rotowire
Thomas went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 9-5 loss against the Mets.
Thomas added a home run shortly after Keibert Ruiz's solo shot, the second run of a five-run ninth inning. It was Thomas' 11th home run and his first since July 10. The outfielder has hits in seven of his last eight games, including two two-hit performances. During that span, he has improved his batting average from .221 to .234.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Back in fourth-outfielder role
Rotowire
Thomas is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Mets.
Thomas handled the leadoff role in Sunday's 5-0 loss to the Cardinals and went 1-for-4 with a double, but he'll retreat to the bench Monday with Victor Robles (hamstring) taking back his spot in the outfield. Before sitting out Sunday, Robles had started in 11 consecutive games to leapfrog Thomas on the depth chart.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Sitting Sunday
Rotowire
Thomas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.
Thomas will take a seat for the second time in the series while Victor Robles picks up his third straight start in the outfield. Thus far in July, Thomas has produced a .465 OPS to Robles' similarly uninspiring .554 mark, but the latter player is regarded as a superior defender. With that being the case, it wouldn't be surprising if Thomas moved into more of a fourth-outfielder role if he's unable to get going at the plate coming out of the All-Star break.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Out of lineup Friday
Rotowire
Thomas isn't starting Friday's game against Atlanta.
Thomas started the last three games and went 4-for-11 with a double, a run, a walk and a strikeout. Victor Robles will take over in center field and bat ninth Friday.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Homers as pinch hitter
Rotowire
Thomas went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer in Sunday's extra-innings loss to Atlanta.
Thomas wasn't in the starting lineup for Sunday's game, but he entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and blasted a go-ahead home run, his ninth homer of the season. In spite of Sunday's performance, the 26-year-old has hit just .120 with a homer, three RBI, two runs and seven strikeouts over his last seven games.
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Nationals' Lane Thomas: Checks out of starting nine
Rotowire
Thomas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game in Atlanta.
Victor Robles will pick up the start in center field in the series finale after Thomas occupied the position in the first two games while going 2-for-7 with a run scored. While Thomas appears to have the edge over Robles for the everyday role, the former is still expected to sit a couple times per week while he continues to languish at the plate. Thomas is off to a 4-for-30 start to July.
