Who is Easton Lucas? What to know about the Blue Jays' Spring opener starter

While the Blue Jays’ Spring Training matchup against the Yankees on Saturday won’t have the same kind of tension that a regular season matchup between the two would have, it does signify one thing: 

Baseball is back. 

And, as a part of that return, Blue Jays manager John Schneider has called upon 28-year-old left-hander Easton Lucas to get the start. While Lucas likely won’t be in the game long (most pitchers can only go one or two innings at this point in spring), Schneider tabbing Lucas to get the start is still an interesting decision. 

Here’s what you need to know about Lucas.

Could Easton Lucas be a part of the Blue Jays’ plans for 2025? 

It seems like he’s getting stretched out as a starter 

Lucas appeared in two games for the Blue Jays last season where he allowed six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. In total, he allowed 14 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings last season with the Blue Jays, Tigers and Athletics while pitching in relief. 

While he’s never made a start in MLB, he made three starts in September for Triple-A Buffalo and allowed just one earned run across 12 innings of work. He also started his minor league career as a starter (nine starts in Low-A in 2019 while he was with the Marlins). 

He’s a baseball nomad

As mentioned above, Lucas recorded MLB appearances with three different organizations last year, which has been a trend throughout his career. 

The Marlins selected him in the 14th round of the 2019 MLB Draft before trading him to the Orioles less than a year later in exchange for Jonathan Villar. He spent parts of three seasons in the Orioles’ minor league system before being traded to Oakland in 2023 in exchange for Shintaro Fujinami. 

He ended up making his MLB debut with the Athletics later that year before being outrighted off their 40-man roster following the season. 

He was added back to their 40-man roster on May 8, 2024 and made three appearances with the Athletics before being designated for assignment and subsequently acquired by the Tigers. He made three appearances with Detroit before being DFA’d and acquired by the Blue Jays on Aug. 19, 2024.

He once was part of a combined no-hitter

In 2023, Lucas was part of a combined no-hitter when he was with the Double-A Bowie Baysox — the fifth nine-inning no-hitter in Baysox history and the 12th in the organization's history.

After Chayce McDermott and Nolan Hoffman threw seven no-hit innings, Lucas finished the game off with two perfect innings with three strikeouts. 

He’s got solid minor league numbers 

Lucas has a 3.74 ERA in 245 1/3 innings across his minor league career, which shows that there’s some electricity in his left arm. His best season came last year when he had a 2.75 ERA across 68 2/3 Triple-A innings. He got even better once he came to Toronto, as he had a 1.37 ERA in 19 2/3 innings with Buffalo. 

Right now the biggest thing going for Lucas is his versatility. He’s likely on the outside looking in when it comes to the rotation, but his arsenal and skillset would allow for him to get a look as a swingman, much like how Ryan Yarbrough (who was brought back in a minor league contract) pitched out of the bullpen last year. 

In other pitching news, Yariel Rodríguez and Jake Bloss will pitch on Sunday, Bowden Francis will go on Monday before Max Scherzer and José Berríos will pitch on Tuesday.