The Toronto Blue Jays have been battling the injury bug all season long, and for outfielder Nathan Lukes, the Oregon product has been battling his own health ailments without having to land on the IL.

Per the Blue Jays beat journalists, Lukes has been experiencing bouts of dizziness and nausea related to vertigo since Spring Training and the side effects have definitely played a part in his sluggish start to the season. While he was cleared to play by the Jays’ medical team, Lukes was a shade of his former self through the first couple of weeks of the campaign.

Entering the Arizona Diamondbacks series this past weekend, the left-handed bat had just two hits to his credit across 31 at-bats (.065 average) and had just two RBIs with zero extra-base hits. He wasn’t striking out a ton – just six punchouts – but Lukes only had one walk and was chasing a lot of pitches outside the strike zone while not getting much out of his at-bats. They were non-competitive, and he was becoming an easy out that made it seem like a reset down in Triple-A may be on the horizon.

While in Phoenix, Lukes visited a vertigo specialist, and it appears that things are trending back in the right direction with a proper game plan in place.

Across four games and 13 at-bats, Lukes has collected eight hits, including two doubles. He’s also added five RBIs, and played a major part in the Jays’ win in Arizona with a bases-clearing double that was part of the eight-run first inning. The left-handed bat has also been hitting double-digit exit velocities on multiple occasions, highlighted by a 107.5 MPH single to kick off the Jays’ win against the D-backs, and he is providing meaningful at-bats at the plate that are benefiting the Jays towards the top of the order. Lukes is also riding a four-game hit streak, correlating back to his visit with the specialist in Arizona.

It’s a bit unfortunate that it took this long for Lukes to visit the doctor and get treatment for his condition, mostly because dealing with vertigo, regardless of his occupation as a professional baseball player, sounds like a nightmare in everyday life.

While the exact day/timeframe of when he was experiencing these issues is not known, it seems like the Jays and Lukes thought he could battle through it, especially since if this has been bothering him since Spring Training and he was finding success in Dunedin (.333/.468/.417 across 36 at-bats with one home run). That success didn’t translate to the regular season, and it seemed like Lukes was battling at the plate in an unprecedented fashion.

Having Lukes back on track and finding his 2025 form comes at a prime time for the Blue Jays, who needed a shot in the arm in terms of offense. The veteran bat posted a .255/.323/.407 slash line with a .730 OPS while working as an everyday player for the first time in his career last year, and the Jays getting another round of production from Lukes will go a long way for a squad that is starting to work back on the upswing in terms of offensive production.

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