Lane Thomas

Ramirez has traditionally hit third for the Guardians, but manager Stephen Vogt is giving him a look in the second spot and has indicated he'd like to keep him there if Ramirez is comfortable with it. That'd be good news for Lane Thomas, who might replace Ramirez in the third spot. It's not so good for Kyle Manzardo, who made the most sense in the second spot against righties with Ramirez batting third.

The right-hander punched out three batters on the night and didn't issue a free pass. Nelson pitched around a one-out double by Jose Ramirez in the opening inning to avoid any damage, striking out Steven Kwan and Lane Thomas in the frame. The only damage done against him came on a solo blast by Bo Naylor to lead off the second inning. Nelson generated three whiffs on 51 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 27 percent. Unfortunately for Nelson (and for fantasy managers), it looks like he'll be squeezed out of the spot in the team's Opening Day rotation unless injury strikes between now and then.

Thomas opened the scoring in the home half of the first inning with a bases-clearing double off of Thomas Pannone. He then came around to score on an RBI single by Will Brennan. Thomas also drew a walk and scored on an RBI double by Brayan Rocchio in the fifth inning. He's off to a solid start this spring, hitting .273 (3-for-11) with a homer, six RBI and a stolen base.

Statcast said the homer off Hunter Greene left Thomas's bat at 111.4 mph, which is an exact match for the hardest he's ever hit a ball in a regular-season game. Unlike the Nationals, the Guardians view Thomas as a middle-of-the-order guy; he finishes last season hitting fifth against righties and fourth versus lefties. That's not ideal for his fantasy value, but he still has plenty of HR/SB upside, even if he's pretty mediocre elsewhere.

Greene struck out three, but he gave up four hits, including a two-run homer to Lane Thomas. It's nothing new for Greene, who had a 7.20 ERA in five starts last spring. His velocity was fine today, and he got his work in, which is all that matters.