At one point, his extra year under control was seen as a positive aspect when evaluating his value. Now, it looks more like a hindrance than anything else for the Guardians. If he keeps playing like this, he’s not even doing enough to earn a spot on their postseason roster.

One possible solution would be for new manager Stephen Vogt to play Thomas exclusively against left-handed pitchers. His career splits in left field are wild, as seen below.

The difference between his performance is like night and day. He clearly sees the ball much better against left-handed hitters than right-handed hitters. Getting him into situations where he’s more comfortable would be a fantastic first step to turning his season around.

Final thoughts

In a lineup dominated by lefties (Kwan, Josh Naylor, Andres Gimenez), it made perfect sense for the Guardians to add a righty to the team. But Thomas hasn’t been the answer so far. Using him against left-handed pitchers and giving Noel the majority of starts against righties should be the way to go from here on out.

One positive aspect of Thomas’s troubles is that his terrible play hasn’t hurt the Guardians too much. But it certainly hasn’t helped them. The club just ended a seven-game losing streak and followed that with a five-game winning streak that is still active heading into the upcoming series against the Brewers, which begins Friday.

Despite all of this, they are 4.5 games ahead of the Twins, who are also 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Royals are also only six games back, but it remains to be seen how seriously their claim to the top spot in the AL Central will be taken.