CLEVELAND, Ohio —
Lane Thomas’ bat has finally awakened, and the timing couldn’t be more fascinating for a Guardians team standing at a critical crossroads.
With back-to-back games at Progressive Field featuring three-run homers, Thomas is beginning to resemble the player Cleveland thought they were getting when they acquired him — a streaky but potentially game-changing outfielder who can alter a game’s trajectory with one swing.
But here’s the delicious irony that Joe Noga pointed out on the latest Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast: the better Thomas plays, the more likely he might be packing his bags before the trade deadline.
“The more home runs Lane Thomas hits right now,” Noga observed bluntly, “he’s signing his ticket out of town.”
It’s the ultimate baseball paradox. Thomas is finally delivering value, but that value might be most useful to the Guardians as trade currency rather than on-field production.
Why? Because Cleveland’s farm system is bursting with outfield talent that’s forcing its way into the conversation. Chase DeLauter is crushing Triple-A pitching, collecting extra-base hits at an alarming rate. C.J. Kayfas recently launched a grand slam of his own. Juan Brito is back from injury.
The organizational pressure to make room for these rising stars is building by the day.
Paul Hoynes called it perfectly on the podcast: “It’s a two-edged sword.”
The decision hinges entirely on how the front office views this season’s Guardians team. Are they legitimate contenders worth supplementing at the deadline? Or should they capitalize on hot streaks like Thomas’s to strengthen future rosters?
“The next two, three weeks will decide that,” Hoynes noted.
What makes Thomas particularly intriguing is the effortlessness of his swing when he’s locked in. As Hoynes described his recent home run: “It didn’t look like there was any effort behind it. And you know, I guess that’s when you stop thinking and you stop worrying about the position of your hands and feet and where you are in the box and you just swing. See the ball and swing.”
That kind of natural power and athleticism is exactly what contending teams covet in July acquisitions.
For Thomas himself, the equation is simpler: keep hitting. Whether showcasing himself for Cleveland’s stretch run or auditioning for his next team, his personal incentives align perfectly with his current hot streak.
The larger question for Cleveland becomes about identity and direction. The organization has prided itself on developing talent and giving young players opportunities. DeLauter represents three years of patient development after injury setbacks. Kayfus has forced his way into the conversation with overwhelming production.
At some point, potential must be converted into major league opportunity, or the entire developmental model collapses under its own weight.
So while fans celebrate Thomas’s resurgence and the excitement it brings to the lineup, the front office is likely viewing those same home runs through a more calculated lens — weighing present contributions against future potential, immediate gratification against long-term planning.
One thing is certain: these next few weeks will be fascinating to watch, both for Thomas’s performance and for what it might signify about Cleveland’s organizational direction.
Want to hear the complete discussion about Lane Thomas’s hot streak and its implications for the Guardians’ trade deadline strategy? Don’t miss the full Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast episode where Joe Noga and Paul Hoynes analyze this and other critical developments for the team.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga: Foreign. Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie. The Guardians had a little bit of rally going last night in the seventh inning. Then the eighth inning rolls around and George Springer steps up to the plate. 8th career grand slam off of Hunter Gaddis sort of blows the game open. They fall to the Blue Jays in the opener of a three game series and it was a final of ten to six. Just you know, what you think of the fight that the Guardians at least showed to try and get back into the game before the big home run by Springer.
Paul Hoynes: It was encouraging, Joe, you know, especially after watching him on the west coast watch when every run was a struggle. It was good to see them, you know, put some, put more than 4, 3, 4 runs on the board. They came back late, unfortunately the bullpen, you know, gave it right back. Couldn’t, you know, couldn’t keep them in that game and they end up losing. But it was encouraging to see the ball fly out of the park, you know, from the Guardians. Just, you know, Santana and Manzardo. Was good to see them swing the bat like that. And encouraging to see Elaine Thom take a step forward.
Joe Noga: Yeah, a couple of hits for Lane Thomas. We’ll get to that here in a minute. Really the story of the game up until that point, the early part of the game. Eric Lauer, the local kid, Grafton Midview High School product and Kent State lefty. Five and a third innings, five hits allowed, one run, three walks, five strikeouts on 86 pitches. He really sort of handed it to the Guardians there over the first five plus innings until Carlos Santana’s solo home run chased him out of the game. Again, they fall back into that formula of you throw a left hander at them and this guy had a fastball that, that Stephen Vogt described as sort of having sneaky life to it at the end. And, and then he really sort of changed speeds on them a lot and it really had the, the Guardians all, all over the place in the batter’s box the first five innings of the game.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, just. That was discouraging, Joe, because they, they seem to find a formula on the road against lefties then to come to, you know, kind of a guy that’s not really throwing 97, 98 miles an hour. He’s thrown below the hitting speed. Crafty, just knows how to pitch. And they had, they had beat a guy like that in JP Sears on Sunday in Sacramento and they just couldn’t handle, couldn’t handle Lauer. So you know, that left handed starter thing is still alive and well and haunting the Guardians.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it was like one, one step forward, two steps back in terms of figuring out that, that mystery of the left handers there. Steven Kwan, a couple of base hits in his first two at bats. Like we said, Lane Thomas got things started in that first inning for the Guardians. You know, back to back hits at the top of the order. Then Jose Ramirez grounds into a double play. Our old friend Andres Jimenez fields the ground ball, tags Thomas going from first to second, throws out Jose later in the second inning. You saw Andres Jimenez flash the leather that we’ve seen him play defensively for, for so long the last four years. He fields a ground ball off the bat of Jonathan Rodriguez that was ticketed for, for center field. It, it had about five hops, it was behind the bag, he was in the center field grass and all of a sudden Jimenez sprawling out on his stomach, stops the ball, throws him out and prevents a run. In that situation, just how much did you see the Toronto defense being a factor in last night’s game?
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you know, Jimenez really played well. Miles Straw looked like Miles Straw in center field. No ball ever surprises him out there. He catches everything in sight and yeah.
Joe Noga: Miles draw at the plate though, so don’t worry about that.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, and so did, unfortunately, so did a menace. He’s, he’s not hitting over. 200 yet, is he, Joe? But you know those guys, you know, defense plays and I’m sure they, they had some extra incentive about coming to Cleveland for the first time. They had to enjoy that and they played well. I mean, you know, Jimenez, he’s a Gold Glove guy, there’s no doubt about that.
Joe Noga: Yeah, a couple of base hits for Ernie Clement as well, including an RBI double in the first inning. The Toronto hitters really sort of ambushed Logan Allen early. He doesn’t really give up too many runs typically in the first inning of his starts, but he gave up two on Tuesday. In the first inning, it was Clement, it was Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk with the, you know, RBI base hit to sort of cap the inning. But you know, Logan Allen settled in after that, really sort of battled, didn’t get a lot of help from his defense. Jonathan Rodriguez in right field misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Straw, actually into three bases as the ball hit, hit the top of his glove, rolled all the way to the warning track, and then he couldn’t seem to find a way to pick the ball up. And a guy with straw speed winds up on third base. Yeah.
Paul Hoynes: Double air. Joe, that was a brutal play. You know, I don’t know. I mean, hopefully Jonathan Rodriguez settles in. He’s getting an extended look here, but, you know, we’ve seen, you know, on the road trip, he swung the bat pretty well, had a double, had a triple. You know, Vote is saying he’s trying to do the impossible, which is change his swing at the big league level. You know, how many times have we heard that about how many different players on the Guardians? And you know, who comes up with that suggestion? Why don’t they make the swing change in spring training? I mean, that’s when you’re supposed to do it, not during competition, when you’re trying to win games. But, you know, that’s a suggestion. That’s what they’re working on. And, you know, that. That just adds frustration to me. Joe.
Joe Noga: Yeah. Is. Is the clock ticking on Jonathan Rodriguez in right field after performances last night by Chase DeLauter? I believe he collected a triple in his game for Columbus, and I believe CJ Kayfus hit a grand slam in the ninth inning. These are guys who are hitting the ball, and at some point, you need. You need to get a look at one or both of them. I believe Juan Burrito was activated in Columbus just this morning, so he’ll be back on the roster there. You know, we’ve talked about it on this podcast before. We’ve mentioned it several times about the idea of, are you going to promote from within to try and turn things around, or are you going to bring somebody from outside the organization? Well, we’re getting down to the point where that decision has to be made. And, you know, any one of those three names is one that you could see up here in Cleveland in the next couple of weeks.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think that’s. That’s a. You know, that makes sense to me, Joe. I mean, you probably would. You look, you’re going to look at your own guys before you try. You maybe trade somebody out of your organization to bring somebody in. So do you look at DeLauter? Do you look at Kayfus? Juan Brito probably needs some playing time at Columbus, I would think, you know, just to get his feet back on the ground after, you know, breaking his thumb and having surgery. But DeLauter and Kayfus are legit. They’ve. They’ve been. They’ve been swinging the bat well. DeLauter has stayed healthy to this point. Knock on wood. And, you know, why not, Joe? I mean, if you can play as Jonathan Rodriguez in right field, you can play Chase DeLauter.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And the only question I guess was after, after DeLauter wound up on third last night with that triple, you know, how do you feel afterwards is, how’s the recovery the next day? And that’s the main concern because everything else points to the kid can hit. Let’s get him up here and let’s see what he can do. If you’re trying to. That all right? Yeah. The, the, the big blow sort of for the Guardians offensively when they finally did, you know, wake up in time off at the plate to get back into the game, you know, sort of before Springer turned the lights out with the, with the grand slam, the big blow was landed by Lane Thomas. I asked Stephen Vogt in the post game, you know, what it, what it means moving forward for these guys if Lane Thomas is swinging the bat like that, as he was sort of expected to, as he was sort of counted on to at the beginning of the season before all the injuries took place. Vogt. Yeah, anytime our guys are getting multiple hits, they’re hitting multiple balls hard. You know, they’re working walks like Thomas did. He had a walk before that home run is at bat. It’s great. So, you know, it wasn’t really specific about anything Thomas was doing, but, you know, Thomas himself said, you know, he’s, he’s starting to feel a little bit more like himself at the plate.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe. I mean, he got a hit on a road trip the last game he opens, you know, first inning, he’s, he gets a single, then he hits a three run homer. It’s moving in the right direction. All this guy has to do, really, you know, we’ve seen him stay on the field and eventually he’s going to hit. You know, we saw him go through that, that terrible slump, you know, immediately after the trade last year. Then he was lights out in September, carried into the ALDS against Detroit. This guy’s a streaky hitter. If he gets on a hot streak now, so much the better. But eventually there’s going to be a good streak in there as long as he can stay on the field.
Joe Noga: Yeah, and I think it’s back to back games that he’s played at Progressive Field. The last game of the home stand before this and the first game of this homestand, he’s got three run homers in both of those games. So the, the last game, the, the getaway game, I believe against Cincinnati, he had a three run home run. So, yeah, great to see this happening for Lane Thomas. But, you know, if he’s doing this now? Is he playing his way into becoming a trade asset if the Guardians decide to go in that direction? In order to free up room for a guy like a Chase DeLauter or CJ Kayfus on the roster. The more home runs Lane Thomas hits right now, the he’s. He’s signing his ticket out of town. Basically.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it’s a two edged sword, Joe. I mean, it all depends what the front office decides. Is this club a contender or are they, you know, are they going to be a seller at the deadline? You know, the next two, three weeks will decide that. And you know, it’s to Lane Thomas’s benefit either way to keep swinging the bat and, you know, and making contact and getting hits and playing well. You know, Joe, his swing is so easy when he makes contact on that. I mean, that home run, it didn’t look like there was any effort behind it. And you know, I guess that’s when you stop thinking and you stop worrying about the position of your hands and feet and where you are in the box and you just swing, see the ball swing and maybe, you know, that’s a good sign that he’s entering that zone.
Joe Noga: Yeah, it looked like the ball just sort of jumped off his bat to left field last night from, from my perspective in the press box. So, you know, really good to see and it sounds really good coming off the bat of Lane Thomas when, when he makes contact. It really does that. Just wanted to mention Kwon back is average up to 2. 310 now. 27th multi hit game of the season for Stephen Kwon. 6th straight multi hit game against Toronto. Kwon likes hitting against Toronto, man. Multiple hits almost every time he plays against them. So it was, you know, the longest streak by a Cleveland player against Toronto for multi hit games since Brook Jacoby in 1980. You got to go back to Brooke Jacoby, my favorite guy. The last time a Cleveland player had six straight multi hit games against the Birds. Brook Jacoby was your favorite?
Paul Hoynes: Oh, he’s my favorite player. One of my favorites of all time.
Joe Noga: Just a good dude. I remember, you know, just you talking about him and those kinds of things. So yeah, you know, Kwan hitting the ball well, Carlos Santana with the solo home run in the sixth inning. It was his 200 home run in a Cleveland uniform. That’s one behind Earl Averill for fifth place on the franchise all time list. That’s, you know, in the next home run Carlos Santana hits, he’ll be tied for fifth in, in all time in Cleveland history.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you think about that, Joe. And you think about this guy, third tour in Cleveland, and you don’t really realize the stats behind him and how good a hitter he actually has been his whole career. I mean, the guy is over 300. He’s approaching 340 home runs. I mean, that’s a lot of home runs. And we’ve talked about it before. You know, your borderline hall of Fame consideration, then. Switch hitter. One of the best switch hitters in history. Certainly one of the best switch hitters in Cleveland history. And over 900 walks. He just, he. And he does it, you know, just kind of on the back burner. You don’t really notice him. And just really an interesting career by Carlos.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And we’ve said it before. I think one of the craziest stats for him is 1300 walks. You know, he’s walked over 22 miles between home plate and first base in his career. That’s just an amazing station. Another weird stat I just want to throw out there, you know, from last night’s game. Kyle Manzardo, solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to make it 10 6. It was his fifth home run this year on the first pitch of an at bat. So five of his 12 home runs have come on the first pitch of the at bat. That’s just. To me, that’s. You’re not reading the scouting report against this guy if you’re. If you’re giving up a home run on the first pitch.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And what, what does that say about a hitter, Joe? I mean, what does that say about Manzardo? That A, is he afraid to get too deep in the count, or B, is he so confident that the first pitch he sees he’s going to. He’s just going to let the bat go? I mean, it’s a weird, A weird stat. And you know, he always talks about, I’m looking for a pitch up. I want to hunt something over the middle of the plate. So if you do that as a pitcher, you know you’re going to be taken deep almost. You know, he’s. He’s got a really good chance of taking you deep.
Joe Noga: Yeah, he’s out there hunting his pitch and he’s getting it. That’s. That’s what it’s saying.
Paul Hoynes: Another. Just another factor. And this guy deserves to play more. We got to see more of this guy.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And that’s definitely the case. All right, let’s jump into some hey, Hoynsie questions. We’ve got a few here submitted. Wanna jump into them? And the first one comes from our friend Virgil Hauser in Gustavus, Ohio. Another fan wanting a trade. Wanting to trade Class A for a power hitter. If someone needs a close closer like Class A, who would they give up? No team is going to do that. An organization that fills from within. DeLauter and Bazzana have to be up here by August 1st. I don’t think Travis Bazan is going anywhere because he’s on the injured list. We probably won’t see him until August. But we just discussed Travis, you know, chased a lottery. Just what do you think of the idea that trading Class A for a power hitter won’t work? You know, we’ve talked, talked yesterday about how they might have to get a third team involved.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think that is really a difficult question for me because the guy, he’s on a club friendly contract. But it also makes Class A really, really attractive from the outside because what he’s, he’s signed for one more year like at 6 million, then the two club options are worth 10 million each. You know, with a buyout, you know, that’s really affordable for a closer in, you know, as an elite closer like Class A has shown. He is just really an interesting situation for the front office. I’m not sure which way they’re going to go, but if you’re a contender, Joe, if they think you think this team is playoff worthy, has a shot at it, a legitimate shot. I don’t think you can trade Class A. I really don’t. I know you have Cade Smith backing him up and we saw Cade Smith say back to back games, I believe against the Yankees when they didn’t use him when Class A was down with a sore shoulder. But we haven’t seen Kate Smith do it, you know, over a week, over two weeks, over three weeks, over a month. So, you know, we’ve seen Class A do it. So I don’t know. That’s, that’s the thing, that’s, that’s holding me back from making a trade for him.
Joe Noga: Yeah, you talk about those two, two option years. I can tell you this. If the, the organization continues to operate the way that it has over the past, you know, decade plus somebody, some organization will be paying those, those two option years, the 10 million years, the two 10 million dollar years for Class A, it won’t be Cleveland that’s paying those 10, $10 million option years. It’s almost a guarantee. So look it up. As far as our next question, this comes from Jim Harris in Newark. He says, I like the lineup that had Jones and Thomas in the outfield with Schneemann at second, don’t like changing it up every day. You can use Angel Martinez as a player every three to four games to give a player a day off so he can rotate. I sometimes think analytics just don’t help the game. So what do you think about the role of analytics plays in constructing the lineup and these, the idea of this interchangeable parts that Steven Vogt has pretty much operated with the entire time he’s been the manager of the Guardians?
Paul Hoynes: Well, I think analytics are definitely play a role in making, making Cleveland’s lineup every day. The way it switches around, they move around. You know, you’ve got three guys in there that play every day in Kwon, Ramirez and Santana and then everybody else is interchangeable. You know it. So, you know, definitely, you know, the analytics definitely plays a role in that. You know, I, I like Martinez in the lineup more than three or four days. More than every three or four days. I would think he could. He helps you out in center field, he helps you out at second base. But Schneemann, you know, has played too, so you can make a case for all those guys. But I’m not, you know, I don’t, I’m not down on analytics. I would like to see a little more stability in the lineup though.
Joe Noga: Yeah. So it’s sort of a half answer there. You agree with him that you don’t like the swapping out every. Every so often you want to see guys play a little more. And the part that we sort of skipped over there was having Nolan Jones playing every day in the lineup as well. I mean, these are. This is a guy who’s almost reverse splits against left handed pitching. You could start him against a lefty, I think, and see a little bit more out of him. So that might be the case as well. Our last question comes from Jay Miller in Boston. He wants to know when will Stephen Vogt realize that Hunter Gaddis is not throwing the ball well and take him out of the setup role? You know, he was asked, Stephen Vogt was asked about Hunter Gaddis last night after the game. He said, obviously Gaddis, that was not his cleanest inning. We get the, you know, they got the great plate at home plate where they challenged the tag and Andres Jimenez was ruled out at the plate. Then Andre Alejandro Kirk walks and he just didn’t get his fastball up to George Springer. Really two fastballs in that outing to Jimenez and to George Springer that he didn’t get locate. He said Gaddis has been phenomenal this year he’s going to be right back out there the next time the situation pops up and we’re in that situation in a game that’s a little different when they’re behind in a game said vote and, you know, getting some, some runs would have helped in that situation. So, yeah, Hunter Gaddis, so what have you noticed about him? Hoynsie?
Paul Hoynes: You know, I noticed, you know, he’s given up a lot more inherited runners than he did last year. Joe. But I mean, he’s still, you know, when you take just a look at, you know, across the board, his stats are very, very good. He’s just not, they’re just not last year’s stats. But for a lot, for a long time, he’s been the only reliever out of the Big four with an ERA under two. So, you know, he has pitched pretty well. He does at times look tired to me. Joe. It looks like they used him a lot. You know, they’ve used him a lot last year, what I think he was second overall in appearances during a regular season. He made like nine or 10 more appearances in the postseason. And, you know, Volt goes to this guy. You know, he does not shy away from Gaddis. And, you know, there’s just some times where it just looks like, you know, his stuff is just a tick or two off.
Joe Noga: Yeah. And the manager’s confidence in Gaddis is not going to go away. He’s very confident in what he’s got with Hunter Gaddis. I think you also have to keep in mind, up until spring training of last year, Hunter Gaddis was a starter, and he’s not used to pitching 76 times in a season. He’s used to pitching 30 times in a season and those outings being a little longer. So, you know, maybe that has something to do with it. And, you know, maybe the wear catches up with you a little bit, but you also grow into that role and mature into that role. And I’m sure he’s, he’s still got, you know, plenty left in the tank for, for, you know, the stretch run of this season. That’s gonna wrap up our, our hey, Hoynsie segment of the podcast. What do you think? You know, these, these video podcasts going well? Hoynsie. We, I think we stick with them a little bit.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, it’s, it’s kind of fun. I hate looking at myself. I want, you know, it’s awful early in the morning to see. Just look at, look at that mug in the mid. Right back at you, but. But yeah, it’s been fun.
Joe Noga: You and me both, brother. I’ll tell you what, I did do some rearranging of my bobblehead wall. I think I might change up the background here a little bit. I’ve got the, I’ve got the ballparks behind me right now.
Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I like it.
Joe Noga: So we’ll, we’ll see how that goes. But moving forward, I like it. And keep submitting your questions for Hey, Hoynsie, if you want to join our subtext and get updates from Hoynsie and for myself go to cleveland.com subtext it’s 3.99amonth and you get access to, you know, sort of the behind the scenes takes that we have and you get an opportunity to be the first ones to send us questions that we can read on the air like our good friend Virgil who’s always up for sending us in a question that’s going to wrap up today’s edition. We’ll talk to you tomorrow.