Alek Thomas to Continue Rehab Games with Reno Monday

The Diamondbacks' center fielder has missed all but four games this year, but his return seems imminent.

Arizona Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas (5) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning in game four of the NLCS of the 2023 MLB playoffs at Chase Field in Phoenix on Oct. 20, 2023. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo gave an update regarding centerfielder Alek Thomas' rehab games and next steps. Thomas has missed all but four games this year due to a hamstring strain, and has had multiple setbacks and delays in his rehab process.

Thomas played last night for the Reno Aces, his third game in this most recent round of rehab games. He went 1-4 last night, and is 2-16 overall. The results are secondary to the Diamondbacks however. The main focus is on how Thomas's legs are feeling.

On that score Lovullo gave encouraging news. "There were a few things that he tested, he went first to third, and felt really good, he was moving at a really good pace."

Lovullo spoke to him after the game last night, and Thomas is going to stay in Reno and play with them in Sacramento on Monday. The team will continue to evaluate him after Monday's game.

Asked if having four outfielders on the roster that have performed well in June has given the team the luxury to slow play Thomas's return, Lovullo rejected that notion without ambiguity.

"It does not. When Alek is ready he's got a spot on this team and he's coming. We have a very hard decision to make. No matter how it shakes out we're going to get another quality outfielder coming in that I'm going to have to figure how to balance playing time."

It sounded like the decision to play at least one more game with Reno was influenced by the outfielder himself.

"This is all on Alek... I asked him last night if this was more swing fundamental, something that was bothering him about his game that he wanted to feel. He said no, this is more about his body and him getting in tune with where he's at with his body."

At that point Lovullo agreed for Thomas to play again on Monday. I asked on follow up if when talking about his body he was referring to the hamstrings, or something else.

Lovull said it had to do with his legs. "When he was battling that fatigue we were fast forwarding him. And then he started to battle a little leg fatigue. There were different parts of his legs that were feeling a little bit sore... it's all centered around that hamstring and the leg. It might be his hip, it might be his calf, but it's always something that he's feeling that is very typical with returning to play."

Asked to clarify if Thomas felt fatigue after last night's game, that did not appear to be the case. "From what I understood he went first to third about as good as anybody and made comments about how good that felt, and he wanted to try to duplicate it one more time."

Lovullo gave an interesting tidbit about ground covered in the outfield during these games, compared to when he's been with the major league team. "He covers about 30 feet per second when he's catching fly balls here in Chase Field. He's about 28.5 feet per second on balls [with Reno]... I think that extra gear when he gets here he'll be able to reach it."

It's been a long road back for Thomas. Hopefully he feels good after Monday's game and is cleared to rejoin the team next week in either Los Angeles or San Diego to face the Dodgers and Padres.