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Washington Nationals' Slugger Takes Big Step in Return From Knee Injury

As he works to come back from a knee injury suffered earlier this season, Washington Nationals' slugger Lane Thomas took a big step on Wednesday morning.
Brady Farkas|
Apr 14, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder Lane Thomas (28)
Apr 14, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Washington Nationals outfielder Lane Thomas (28) | Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

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Washington Nationals

After suffering a knee injury in April, Washington Nationals' slugger Lane Thomas took a big step in his efforts to return on Wednesday before the Nationals game against the Chicago White Sox.

Per Mark Zuckerman of MASN:

Lane Thomas is on the field running bases, I believe, for the first time since spraining his MCL three weeks ago. Not running at 100 percent, but doesn't appear to be much less than that.

That's certainly good news and could signal that Thomas is getting close to a rehab assignment.

The 28-year-old is a spark plug for the Nationals and having him back near the top of the order will be a welcome site for the rebuilding squad. Though he's slumped to a .184 start this year, he does have 11 steals and 10 RBI. He broke out last season, hitting 36 doubles and 28 homers for the Nats to go along with a .268 average.

Thomas is in the sixth year of his career with the Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals.

Washington enters play on Wednesday at 20-21 overall and in third place in the National League East. They are 1.0 game ahead of the New York Mets and 9.5 games ahead of the last-place Miami Marlins.

The first pitch of the Nats-White Sox game will be at 2:10 p.m. ET. Patrick Corbin pitches for the Nationals while Garrett Crochet gets the ball for Chicago.

Corbin is 1-3 with a 5.91 ERA for the year while Crochet is 3-4 with a 4.63.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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