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Veteran Guardians outfielder nearing return, set to begin rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus

ByJames Mastrucci|
Chicago White Sox v Cleveland Guardians
Chicago White Sox v Cleveland Guardians | Jason Miller/GettyImages

The Cleveland Guardians have been without the services of veteran outfielder Lane Thomas for quite some time, but that could be coming to an end relatively soon.

Thomas has been assigned to the Columbus Clippers to begin a rehab assignment with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate. The 29-year-old has been sidelined with a wrist injury after being hit by a pitch in early April. Despite his attempt to play through the injury and avoid an early season sting on the injured list, Thomas would still end up landing on the IL about a week and a half after the initial HBP.

The 2025 season did not necessarily get off to the best of starts for Thomas, as he was one of several players struggling at the plate to start the year. Slashing .156/.188/.178 with one of his seven hits going for extra-bases (a double), Thomas also struck out 15 times compared to walking just once.

It was pretty obvious that Thomas needed a reset of sorts, but it is truly unfortunate it had to come by way of a trip to the injured list rather than him being able to work it out in real time as part of Cleveland's outfield mix. With Thomas being cleared to begin his rehab assignment at Triple-A, he should be able to get back on track at the plate, as an experienced major leaguer should when facing minor league pitching in this scenario.

Once Thomas returns to the Guardians' major league roster, there is someone who is going to get pushed out of the mix. With Steven Kwan not going anywhere and Angel Martinez looking like a solid contributor, that leaves one of Nolan Jones or Jhonkensy Noel, who could be on their way out. At this moment, Noel seems to be the most likely to be on the outside looking in, but that could change if he were to go on a hot streak or if one of the other members of Cleveland's outfield should go down with an injury of their own. Hopefully, a potential injury doesn't factor into the equation here, and Thomas can rejoin the Guardians without incident.