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Looking at how the Blue Jays can utilize outfielder Nathan Lukes in 2025
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Trevor Fitzpatrick
Jan 27, 2025, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 27, 2025, 12:13 EST
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With Gold Glove winning centre fielder Daulton Varsho undergoing shoulder surgery near the end of the 2024 season, opportunities for playtime have opened up for others in the Toronto Blue Jays system – at least to start the 2025 season. Of the names along the Jays centre field depth chart, one of the more likely candidates to fill in some of the games appears to be Nathan Lukes.
The 30-year-old saw limited play last season in the big leagues but made the most of his 22 major league appearances. In 76 at-bats, he hit the ball well, collecting 23 hits and 10 walks with an .818 OPS. Lukes may have only made four appearances in centre field for the big league club last season, but it’s the position he’s played the most in the minor leagues (315 of his 739).
Combining his sheer number of appearances in centre field with his good (albeit small quantity) of at-bats last year may make him the ideal player to eat innings until Varsho’s return.

Lukes and his role with the Blue Jays

As most positional uncertainties go ahead of a season, Spring Training will play a large role in helping the team decide what to do here. Competition for playing time alongside Lukes includes 2024 trade deadline acquisitions Joey Loperfido and Jonatan Clase, as well as the speedy Steward Berroa.  In terms of overall professional baseball experience, Lukes has all three beat. He’s been playing since 2015. Of course, if it was as simple as that, the Jays could just as easily bring back a retired player to fill in.
Interestingly though, Lukes did have one of the best minor league hitting stat lines out of the four players in 2024, as well as the aforementioned solid major league stint.
In 54 games, he hit for a great .872 OPS with triple-A Buffalo. Loperfido meanwhile had a .933 OPS in 39 games with triple-A Sugar Land (Houston Astros affiliate) but only managed a .614 OPS through his first 81 major league games. Clase and Berroa had more AAA appearances in 2024 with 94 and 79 respectively. Clase hit for a .783 OPS while Berroa had an .825 OPS. Neither hit as well as Lukes did during their major league games though (Clase had a .631 OPS, Berroa a .550 OPS). Lukes would have logged more innings under his belt had he not suffered a thumb injury, which also likely played a hand in his late-season callup versus something earlier in the campaign.
It only seems fair then to give Lukes an equal shot in Spring Training even though he’s older than his positional competition (and has one minor league option remaining). 
It will be a tough race, as the corner outfield was bolstered by the signing of Anthony Santander earlier this offseason and George Springer is likely to still get plenty of starts in right field even after the Santander acquisition, although it is yet to be determined if either one moves to left field or not to distribute the reps. Assuming Santander takes a good chunk of left field starts this season, that leaves the temporarily vacated centre field as the only full-time spot available for the four players to compete for out of the gate. 
Expect to see all four players cycled through at points during the season even once Varsho is back. Should Santander or Springer need days off or at the designated hitter spot, the need for outfield depth is still there as well as the fourth bench outfielder spot.
The final piece to this outfield puzzle is whether or not a fifth prospect could make a splash in Spring Training or the minor leagues and earn the fourth outfielder spot. Someone like Alan Roden comes to mind, although he is not a centre fielder by trade and would be gunning for more reps in the corner spots. 
Nevertheless, Lukes’ strong finish to the 2024 campaign seems to have him as one of the premier options for that fourth outfielder spot should his good hitting continue through this spring. 
If the Jays prefer to play their younger prospects, then the option to move Lukes is always there, especially if he keeps hitting as he has recently. Backup outfielders are always valuable to have, especially ones that can play all three spots like Lukes can.

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