Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a July 30, 2021 trade for veteran starter Jon Lester, 26-year-old outfielder Lane Thomas, who’d put up a .104/.259/.125 line given inconsistent at-bats last season with the Cards, got a big opportunity to play for the Washington Nationals over the final two months of his third big league campaign, and he took advantage of it.
Thomas went 5 for 13 in three games with the Nationals’ top minor league affiliate in Triple-A Rochester, then came up to the majors, and finished the year with a .270/.364/.489 run over his final 45 games and 206 plate appearances between mid-August and early October as an (essentially) everyday center fielder in D.