Will the Braves bring back Lane Thomas?
That question has been floating around as the Braves weigh where to spend their limited resources, and it’s notable because Thomas’s name hasn’t come up nearly as often as some of the other familiar options.
A lot of the conversation has centered on re-signing the players who were viewed as solid additions or holdovers from last season: Mauricio Dubon, Tyler Mahle, and Raisel Iglesias. Thomas, though, has mostly been left out of that discussion.
There are obvious reasons for that. He got hurt and missed roughly half the time the Braves had him.
He also struggled badly against right-handed pitching, and while his underlying numbers against lefties slipped in a tiny sample, his results did not hold up there either. Put all of that together, and Thomas probably won’t command much of a deal for 2027.
That, in turn, could make him easier for the Braves to bring back if they want him.
If Atlanta was willing to roll with a late-season platoon of Mike Yastrzemski and Thomas, even with Yastrzemski not hitting especially well, could they be comfortable doing something similar again for a relatively small additional investment in 2027? Thomas has generally handled lefties well, and he did that in Kansas City. The only time it didn’t really show up in the underlying numbers was during his roughly 30 plate appearances as a Brave.
There are also plenty of reasons the Braves might go a different direction. If Jurickson Profar is still in the mix, that creates a logjam.
They could also decide they want a true left fielder and prefer to move Yastrzemski into another role. Or they might simply find a better platoon partner for Yastrzemski.
Even then, Thomas could still fit elsewhere. The Braves could move on in left field and still keep him around as a right-handed DH or pinch-hit option. They already use a roster spot every year on someone who barely plays at all, so the argument is that Thomas couldn’t be much worse if the cost is basically nothing.
For now, the idea isn’t that Thomas is some must-sign piece. It’s more that his name has been strangely absent from the conversation, even though the Braves were interested in him a few months ago. He projects as a roughly half-win player over half a season next year, and the question is whether that’s enough to make him worth another look.
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