The Braves’ trade deadline bet on Lane Thomas was supposed to give them a real answer on the right side of the outfield platoon. Instead, it’s turned into another headache.
Thomas was in the lineup Thursday against a right-handed starter, but an intercostal tweak knocked him out before the game could really get going. Now the Braves are set to lose him altogether, with Walt Weiss saying Thomas will be placed on the injured list.
Walt Weiss said Lane Thomas will be placed on the IL
- Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 10, 2026
Lane Thomas to go on the injured list according to Walt Weiss
That’s a rough blow for a player who never really got rolling in Atlanta. In 21 games, the 31-year-old has hit just .171/.261/.317 across 46 plate appearances. The split tells the story: he’s handled lefties about as expected, batting .259/.333/.481 in 30 plate appearances, but has been shut down by right-handed pitching, going 0-for-14 in 16 plate appearances.
The playing-time puzzle was part of the problem from the start. Since the Braves picked him up, they’ve only seen seven left-handed starters, which limited the chances to use Thomas in the role they had in mind. He’s started only nine of his 21 games with the club, even though he still represented a useful bench option when a lefty was on the mound.
Now that safety valve is gone, and the Braves’ outfield depth suddenly looks thin. DeShawn Keirsey Jr. is the only other outfielder on the 40-man roster, and he bats left-handed. Brewer Hicklen is the only right-handed bat currently on the active roster, but the Braves have been hesitant to use him against lefties, especially with the reverse splits he’s shown in Triple-A.
Atlanta does have a few possible ways to patch things together. José Azócar could be added back to the active roster for a third time, or the Braves could bring back shortstop Jim Jarvis to help the bench, which would free Mauricio Dubón to spend more time in the outfield and open more starts at shortstop for Ha-Seong Kim.
Patrick Clohisy would have been another option, but he went on the IL a few days ago.
Even with Thomas’s disappointing start in Atlanta, this injury stings because it removes one of the few legitimate lefty-killing threats the Braves had. And with the depth chart already stretched, there isn’t much in-house help to make up for it.
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