Plantar fasciitis sends struggling Thomas back to IL
CLEVELAND — Lane Thomas‘ 2025 season has been one of stops and starts.
It hit another stop Friday when the Guardians placed him on the 10-day injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The IL date is retroactive to Tuesday.
“We had him looked at by a couple specialists [on Thursday’s off-day],” manager Stephen Vogt said prior to the team’s series opener against the Angels at Progressive Field. “We wanted to give it as much time as possible because we know how important Lane is to this team and this lineup.”
The injury is another frustrating roadblock for a player who entered the year with big expectations after the Guardians acquired him from the Nationals before last year’s Trade Deadline.
While Thomas hit only .209 in 53 games with the Guardians last year, he clubbed seven home runs for Cleveland in its surprise march to the American League Central title, then hit two more in the postseason. He seemed tabbed to fill the team’s long-running hole in center field this year.
That hasn’t been the case so far.
Thomas opened the season by hitting .172 through his first seven games before he was hit by a pitch in the team’s home opener that derailed his season. Thomas initially tried to play through the injury, but he went 2-for-15 in five games before being placed on the injured list.
Thomas returned last weekend and went 0-for-14 before missing the last two games of Cleveland’s series against the Dodgers due to the injury.
Thomas is hitting .119 (7-for-59) this year with one extra-base hit.
The Guardians will announce a corresponding roster move Saturday to fill Thomas’ roster spot, though his injury adds additional complication to an outfield that’s already a work in progress.
Thomas’ injury likely means that Angel Martínez will continue to get a majority of time in center field, while Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel will continue their platoon in right.
Guardians center fielders have hit .202 this year (26th in MLB). Their right fielders have combined to hit .164, the lowest mark in MLB.
Johnathan Rodríguez – Cleveland’s No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline, who went 0-for-5 in his brief MLB cameo this season – and No. 27 prospect Petey Halpin are the only other outfielders on the 40-man roster, but they were both in the lineup for Triple-A Columbus on Friday.
Other non-40-man-roster options in Triple-A are No. 5 prospect C.J. Kayfus, No. 2 prospect Chase DeLauter and George Valera.
One other option could be David Fry, who recently had his rehab assignment transferred to Columbus. That said, Fry will be limited to being a designated hitter this year after he underwent UCL revision surgery on his right elbow in the offseason.
The Guardians also got a bit of good news regarding their outfield, however, as Steven Kwan returned to the lineup Friday after leaving Wednesday’s game with right wrist inflammation.
“He’s feeling much better today,” Vogt said. “It looks like we avoided something serious.”