Lane Thomas #28

Lane Michael Thomas... Originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round (114th overall) of the June, 2014 First-Year Player Draft...Graduated from Bearden (Tenn.) High School and signed his college letter of intent to play at the University of Tennessee, but was drafted and signed.

2021

Was acquired at the trade deadline and was recalled to Washington on Aug. 15...From that point, led the club and was ninth in the National League with 23 extra-base hits (14 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR)…His 14 doubles tied for sixth in the National League...According to FanGraphs.com, Thomas was the only player in Major League Baseball to record a hard-hit rate of at least 50% during the month of September/October...Thomas was ahead of players such as Miguel Sano (49.2%) and Giancarlo Stanton (48.1%)...The league average for the month was 32.8%...In 45 games with Washington hit .270/.364/.489 with 14 doubles, two triples, seven homers, 27 RBI, 27 walks, four stolen bases and 33 runs scored...Had 17 multi-hit games... Reached safely in a career-high 15 straight games from Aug. 29-Sept. 12: going 21-for-62 (.274) with two doubles, a triple, four homers, 12 RBI, nine walks, 13 runs...Hit leadoff home run on Sept. 4 and Sep. 5 both vs. New York (NL)... Entered the season ranked as the No. 9 prospect in the Cardinals organization.

2020

Played in 18 games, starting 10 in the outfield...Cardinals won all five games in which he scored a run...Missed 20 games on the injured list (COVID-19) from 8/15-8/30...Scored in three straight games (9/5-6), including both games of the doubleheader at Chicago Cubs (9/5)...Hit his lone home run and two RBI on a homer off Joe Jimenez in Game 1 of the doubleheader vs. Detroit (9/10)... Did not play in a game after 9/15 at Milwaukee; optioned to Alternate Training Site (9/16).

2019

Played in 75 games in Memphis (AAA) and 34 in St. Louis before his season was cut short by a fractured right wrist injury following a hit by pitch...Made his Major League debut defensively at MIL (4/17), but homered in his first Major League at-bat, a pinch-hit two-run home run vs. NYM (4/19) off Seth Lugo, which was originally called a triple, before being ruled a home run after review...Became the 10th player in Cardinals history to hit a home run in his first Major League plate appearance and most recent since Paul DeJong at COL (2017). Was the first pinch-hit home run in MLB in a player's first plate appearance in 2019...His rookie season ended after getting hit by pitch in backto-back games at MIL (8/26 by Ray Black & 8/27 by Devin Williams), landing him on the 60-day injured list...Hit three pinch-hit home runs, ranking T6th in MLB and T2nd-most by a Cardinals player since Jeremy Hazelbaker set the club record with four in 2016...Smacked a go-ahead grand slam vs. PIT (8/11) as part of a 5 RBI game including a triple. Became the first Cardinal rookie to hit a triple, grand slam and total 5 RBI in a game since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920, and the first since JT Realmuto in 2015 with Miami...Recorded his first outfield assist vs. PIT (8/11) throwing out Adam Frazier at the plate in his second career start in centerfield....Ranked 28th in MLB in average exit velocity (92.8 MPH) according to StatCast, 2nd-highest behind Rangel Ravelo (94.8 MPH)...Batted .268 with 10 HR, 44 RBI, 17 doubles and 11 stolen bases at Memphis (AAA)...Hit a career-high three home runs at Oklahoma City (7/27) as part of back-to-back games with 4 RBI (7/26 at OKC)...Had two multi-home run games at Memphis...After the season, rated as the No. 17 prospect in the Pacific Coast League in Baseball America's Best Tools Survey.

2018

Combined to play a career-high 132 games between Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA) in his first full season with the Cardinals organization...Batted .264 with career highs in home runs (27), RBI (88), doubles (23), hits (136), runs (84) and walks (50)...Named to the Texas League Mid-Season and Postseason All-Star Teams. Was the starting right fielder and batted 3rd for the North squad and was 1-for-4 playing the entire game...Led all Cardinals minor league players in home runs and RBI and ranked in the Top 10 in runs (84, T-1st), hits (136, 4th), triples (6, T-5th), doubles (23, T-9th), walks (50, 4th) and stolen bases (17, 7th)... Ranked 3rd in Texas League slugging (.487) and 3rd in home runs/at bat ratio (18.29)...Led all Texas League outfielders in fielding percentage (1.000) in 246 total chances while collecting eight outfield assists...Had three multiple home run games with two within three days of each other (6/2 vs. San Antonio & 6/5 at NW Arkansas; 7/24 at Tulsa)...Batted .233 (7-30) with three RBI in the Pacific Coast League playoffs...Was 3-for-5 with a triple, home run and five RBI in the Triple-A National Championship game vs. Durham (9/18)...Played 20 games for Surprise in the Arizona Fall League batting .262 with a home run, 10 RBI and eight stolen bases...Ranked 6th in the AFL in stolen bases and T-7th with 14 walks.

2017

Combined to play in 82 games between the Dunedin Blue Jays and Palm Beach Cardinals, batting .252 with four home runs, 41 RBI, 12 doubles and a career-high seven triples...Was traded on July 2 to the Cardinals for International Cap Space...Reported to Palm Beach after playing in 73 games in Dunedin...Started 78 games in the outfield, his first season in which he did not play any games at second base or third base during the season... Ranked tied for fourth in the Florida State League with seven triples and fourth with a career-high 12 outfield assists.

2016

Ranked second on Class-A Lansing with 17 stolen bases and had three games with two stolen bases...Recorded a career-high 19 stolen bases over the course of the season...Hit home runs in five games over eight games (nine days) from June 1-9, including five straight games with an RBI (June 4-9) and three straight games with a home run at Lake County (June 7-9)…Placed on the 7-day disabled list with a right wrist contusion (June 14-Aug. 5) which included a six-game rehab assignment to the Gulf Coast League where he batted .429 (9-for-21).

2015

Began the season with Class-A Short Season Vancouver in the Northwest League and played in 43 games before a promotion sent him to Class-A Lansing of the Midwest League...Played in 52 total games batting .206 with five home runs, 35 RBI and 15 doubles...Hit his first professional grand slam vs. Spokane (July 3) as part of a career-high six RBI game...Started 36 games at second base and six as the designated hitter in Vancouver and eight more at second base in Lansing...Was placed on the 7-day disabled list with right wrist inflammation (Aug. 24-Sept. 24) ending his season.

2014

Combined to play in 52 games between the Gulf Coast League and Appalachian League batting .281 with a home run and 19 RBI...Played in 34 games for the GCL Blue Jays (R) in his first professional season starting 16 games in centerfield, 15 at third base and three as the designated hitter...Was promoted to Bluefield (R) and hit his first professional home run in his first game coming vs. Danville (Aug. 10)...Started games at third base (10), centerfield (4) and left field (2) in Bluefield...Tied for the seventh-longest home on-base streak in the Gulf Coast League reaching safely in 15 straight home contests and posting a .435 on-base percentage during the streak.