The Braves are bolstering their roster with an addition from the Kansas City Royals.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Lane Thomas is no stranger to being moved at the MLB trade deadline. The right-handed-hitting outfielder has been dealt three different times in his MLB career and is reportedly on the verge of a fourth. Traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017, Thomas was then dealt from St. Louis to Washington in the 2021 Jon Lester deal. Then, in 2024, he was traded to the Cleveland Guardians, who he helped make an improbable run to the American League Championship Series before the Guardians ultimately fell to the New York Yankees.
Thomas had an incredible American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, capped off by an iconic grand slam off Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of that series.
On Saturday evening, it was reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN that Thomas is headed from Kansas City to the Atlanta Braves in a deal that also sends left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter alongside him.
Robert Murray of Fansided added, "The Braves are sending Carter Holton and Lucas Braun to the Royals in the Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter trade."
This is a sign that Atlanta is looking to make a real push to bolster its National League East-leading roster, while the last-place Kansas City Royals accept their fate at the bottom of the American League Central standings.
Thomas has had a slightly above-average year offensively, currently owning a 104 OPS+ in 326 plate appearances entering play on Saturday. That said, he is known as a lefty masher, owning a .850 OPS against left-handers for his career, which includes a respectable .800 clip against them this season. This is exactly the role that he played in Cleveland upon arriving in 2024, and almost certainly the gap he will fill on Atlanta’s roster for the rest of the season and what the Braves hope is a deep run into October.
As for Falter, he has appeared in just five games this season and owns a dreadful 13.97 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched, but is not far removed from a run with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, where he appeared in 22 starts spanning 113.1 innings pitched and pitched to the tune of a 3.73 ERA before landing in Kansas City before last year’s trade deadline. If he can get back to that form, he would really bolster the pitching staff in Atlanta.
The Braves have had a bounce back year that has them primed for October, and much like they did during their run in the early 2020s, they are looking to be aggressive.
