CLEVELAND — Guardians fans can rejoice because Lane Thomas and Stephen Vogt had the talk.
An open dialogue between the center fielder and rookie manager proved to be a turning point this season for Cleveland's primary American League Division Series hero.
Thomas initiating the crucial conversation and Vogt fostering a culture of honesty with his players combined to create a spark. Thomas parlayed it into thawing an ice-cold slump in September and catching fire this month in his first MLB playoffs .
Thomas' grand slam Saturday afternoon off Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal during the fifth inning of the Guardians' 7-3 triumph in Game 5 of the ALDS will forever have a place in Cleveland sports lore.
Not only did the 396-foot home run Thomas launched to left-center field deal a decisive blow to the Tigers, but it also came against presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner Skubal, who had dominated the Guardians in Detroit's Game 2 win at Progressive Field.
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Amid a clubhouse party after the Guardians advanced to meet the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series, which begins Monday night in the Bronx, catcher Austin Hedges presented Thomas with a WWE championship belt while speakers blared “Rocky Top,” a nod to Thomas hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, the home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Thomas' wife, Chase, and soon-to-be 1-year-old son, Henry, attended his postgame news conference.
Thomas, 29, is living every baseball player's postseason dream, an unfathomable scenario for much of August.
The Guardians traded prospects Alex Clemmey, Rafael Ramirez Jr. and José Tena to the Washington Nationals for Thomas on July 29. In his first 20 games with Cleveland, he hit just .111 with three doubles, two RBIs, a stolen base and a .356 OPS.
In late August, Thomas began to reverse his fortunes at the plate as a Guardians player, and he finally hit his first homer with the team on Sept. 2 off Kansas City Royals starter Michael Wacha. The next day, Thomas pinch hit, but he was not in the starting lineup. With the Nationals, Thomas had been fixture in the batting order, so the different approach threw him off. Frustration prompted him to open up to Vogt.
“I was like, 'Vogter, fill me in here. What's this look like going forward? Obviously, I'm prepared for any role that you give me, but I just want [to know],'” Thomas said. “So we had a great talk. He kind of gave me some at-bats to end September, and here we are.”
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Such a discussion could turn a relationship sour if not handled well, yet Vogt kept it constructive and Thomas answered like a consummate professional. They cleared the air.
“He goes, 'Hey, I thought I'd be in the lineup today,' and I just said, 'Lane, look, here's what we got. We've got guys that can hit righties,'” Vogt said. “We had a really good conversation, and I challenged him. To Lane's credit, he asked, he wanted to know and then he steps up. And I can't take him out of the lineup. That's what big-time players do. They step up, and they get it done.”
Thomas added a one-run single in the seventh inning of Game 5. He finished 2-for-4 with five RBIs and a run. His five RBIs are second most by a Cleveland baseball player in a postseason game, trailing only Omar Vizquel's six RBIs in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS against Seattle.
The Guardians tied the score 1-1 when Skubal hit Jose Ramirez in the left forearm with the bases loaded, driving Andres Gimenez home with one out. Thomas conceded he was concerned Ramirez was injured, but the All-Star third baseman remained in the game.
Then Thomas smashed the first pitch of the at-bat, a 96.9 mph sinker from Skubal. Thomas' third career grand slam had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph. It was the sixth postseason grand slam in franchise history and the first since Francisco Lindor hit one in Game 2 of the ALDS on Oct. 6, 2017, against the Yankees. Thomas became the fourth player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead grand slam in a winner-take-all playoff game and the first since 2019.
Thomas also hit a first-pitch, three-run homer during a five-run first inning for the Guardians in their 7-0 Game 1 victory at home. In Game 4 at Comerica Park, Thomas snapped Cleveland's 20-inning scoreless streak with an RBI single in the first inning of a 5-4 Guardians win. His nine RBIs are second most by a Cleveland player in a division series, behind only Jim Thome's 10 in the 1999 ALDS against Boston. He's batting .316 this postseason.
Now the Guardians are left to marvel at how Thomas has dramatically turned around his first season with them.
“The guy's a pro in and out,” Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan said. “I just have to imagine it's so hard when you have your routines and you have an area that you know and people that you know and then just getting plunged into our world [after being traded].
“He's been awesome. And especially with kind of our team being so young, he's really the veteran presence in our locker room that we really need. He's just got kind of like a calm heartbeat through all of it. It doesn't look like this is his first playoffs. He's been huge for us. We've been really leaning on him so far.”
When the Guardians hired former longtime MLB player Vogt, their leadership cited his ability to connect with people as one of the reasons it chose him to become Terry Francona's successor. The trait paid off when a key trade deadline acquisition pushed for an answer. Thomas took the direct feedback and ran with it.
And all of it contributed to Cleveland being four wins away from reaching the World Series.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians ALDS hero Lane Thomas' key conversation with Stephen Vogt creates spark | Ulrich
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