Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Nathan Lukes may finally get a long-awaited opportunity in 2025

Is the 2025 season finally the year Nathan Lukes will get a legitimate shot with the Toronto Blue Jays?

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Nathan Lukes.

The outfielder was selected in the seventh round of the 2015 draft by the Cleveland Guardians, spending his minor league days with them and the Tampa Bay Rays before finding himself with the Blue Jays in 2022. Spending the entirety of the 2022 season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, Lukes slashed .285/.364/.425 with 11 home runs in 484 plate appearances for a 111 wRC+, being added to the team’s 40-man roster at the end of the season.

Lukes spent a significant portion of the 2023 season on the Blue Jays’ big league roster, but only got 31 plate appearances with the team where he slashed .192/.290/.308 with no home runs. He did have a massive go-ahead double in a game against the Detroit Tigers in July, though.

With the Blue Jays being sellers at the 2024 trade deadline, Lukes got an opportunity late in the season, receiving the call-up on Aug. 30. In 91 plate appearances with the Jays, Lukes slashed .303/.371/.447 with his first home run for a 132 wRC+. He had the same wRC+ in 243 minor league plate appearances with the Buffalo Bisons and Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays on a rehab assignment.

Lukes has solid projections from Fangraphs. Steamer has him slashing .266/.328/.384 with two home runs in 99 plate appearances. His best projection comes from ATC, as that model projects he’ll slash .266/.325/.386 with three home runs in 195 plate appearances for a 104 wRC+, while OOPSY projects he’ll slash .247/.303/.345 with one home run in 112 plate appearances for an 86 wRC+.

Like a handful of players we’ve covered in this series recently (namely Joey Loperfido and Jonatan Clase), Lukes will have a chance to earn a look in centre field if Daulton Varsho is out for a significant period. Last season, Lukes had -2 Defensive Runs Saved and -2 Outs Above Average in 26 innings in centre, albeit with better defensive metrics in right field.