Otto Lopez has been optioned to Triple-A, so Nathan Lukes will be on the Blue Jays Opening Day roster

Lukes was originally selected by Cleveland in the seventh round of the 2015 draft and was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays one year later in exchange for Brandon Guyer. He was granted free agency from the Rays following the 2021 season and inked a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays.

Lukes had a strong season with the Buffalo Bisons in 2022. He slashed a .285/.364/.425 line over the course of 484 plate appearances and hit 11 home runs and stole 20 bases. The Blue Jays added Lukes to their 40-man roster back in November.

Now 28 years old, this is the first time that Lukes has cracked a big-league roster. While it seemed that the versatile Otto Lopez would earn Toronto’s final bench spot, the Blue Jays ultimately decided to carry a true fourth outfielder on the roster. Lukes is strong defensively in the outfield and can cover centre field, which could be important given the Blue Jays have a couple of injury-prone outfielders in George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier.

Here’s what it appears Toronto’s Opening Day roster will be when they face the Cardinals in St. Louis on Thursday…

Starting Pitchers (5): Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi

Relief Pitchers (8): Jordan Romano, Tim Mayza, Erik Swanson, Anthony Bass, Yimi Garcia, Adam Cimber, Trevor Richards, Zach Pop

Catchers (2): Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen

Infielders (7): Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Brandon Belt, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, Whit Merrifield

Outfielders (4): Kevin Kiermaier, George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes