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Nathan Lukes provides three-hit performance in return from IL, feeling ‘perfectly fine’ after scary HBP
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
May 25, 2026, 23:30 EDTUpdated: May 25, 2026, 23:27 EDT
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TORONTO — After missing a month and one day with a left hamstring strain, outfielder Nathan Lukes returned from the injured list with a bang in Monday’s 8-2 loss to the Miami Marlins — and narrowly avoided another trip back to the IL, too.
Lukes, who went 3-for-9 with a solo blast and three RBIs in four Single-A rehab games prior to being activated, collected as many hits in his first game back with the Blue Jays. He recorded a trio of singles in four at-bats, his first three lasting six pitches each and coming against Marlins starter Janson Junk.
It served as a reminder of how much this team sorely missed the 31-year-old’s presence in the lineup. The left-handed-hitting outfielder perfectly exemplifies the type of offensive identity this team has been chasing from game to game consistently this season.
“I think having his at-bat quality back at the top, and his base running is important,” manager John Schneider said of Lukes’ return to the lineup, immediately slotting him in the No. 2 hole versus Miami.
But as quickly as the Blue Jays welcomed Lukes back, they nearly lost him again to another injury even faster. Facing reliever Andrew Nardi in a left-on-left matchup in the bottom of the seventh inning, Lukes took the fifth and final pitch of the at-bat, a 94.1-m.p.h. sinker, off the brim of his helmet for a hit-by-pitch.
Off flew his helmet as he dropped to the dirt in the batter’s box, raising immense concern only a few hours after the club placed its ace Dylan Cease on the IL with a mild hamstring strain. Fortunately, the recently returned outfielder stayed in the game — as did home-plate umpire Nic Lentz, who was also struck in the mask on the play and appeared to take the worst of it — after being checked out by Schneider and one of the club’s trainers.
“He was perfectly fine,” Schneider revealed post-game. “It was kind of a glancing blow, and I think if it was anything more than that, I would have just taken him out right there. But it probably looked a little bit worse than it was.”
Lukes went through a full series of on-field concussion protocol tests before receiving the green light to continue playing. He provided the right answers to each question he was asked, like who was pitching, what’s the score?… etc., ensuring he had avoided a major blow to the head.
As someone who’s suffered previous concussions, as recently as last season’s trip to the seven-day IL, the Blue Jays weren’t taking any chances here.
“Tonight, he didn’t want to come out,” Schneider added. “But whenever you get hit in the head, man, you got to be careful. Glad it was nothing serious.”
After remaining in the contest, Lukes earned a fourth at-bat, his fifth plate appearance on the night, but ended up striking out, finishing 3-for-4 in his return to the Blue Jays’ lineup. He also played all nine innings in centre field, making his first start of the season there in place of Daulton Varsho, who earned the night off due to being “pretty exhausted,” having played 49 of the team’s first 53 games in centre heading into Monday.
The Blue Jays are excited to have Lukes back again, especially after seeing him pick up right where he left off, slashing .524/.545/.714 with a 262 wRC+ in seven games before hitting the shelf. Saying it’s been a challenging start to the year would be quite the understatement, considering he also battled vertigo symptoms this spring — and had started to turn the corner during his team’s road trip through Arizona in April.
Now that he’s back, and hopefully for good this time, it means Toronto’s outfield is full of left-handed hitters. There’s Lukes, Varsho, Yohendrick Piñango and Jesús Sánchez, and that’s without including Addison Barger, whose return is taking a bit more time than expected, but shouldn’t be too far away.
Only three of those above can be in the lineup at once. Performance will dictate who receives more playing time, though, which also influenced the decision to option Davis Schneider to Triple-A Buffalo and keep Piñango up with the big-league club.
The latter of those two is helping to keep the Blue Jays’ offence afloat right now, and has also proven he deserves a longer look against left-handed pitching (.429 SLG in seven plate appearances entering Monday’s contest). Varsho has also fared well versus southpaws in 2026, featuring impressive reverse splits via his 105 wRC+ (100 league average) across 54 plate appearances.
Lukes is probably someone you want hitting pretty much exclusively against righties. However, with how competitive his at-bats are, he’d be helpful in most situations at the moment.
“You know what you’re going to get,” Schneider said of Lukes’ offensive profile. “It’s very consistent, and we need to kind of stack those at-bats up and in the lineup. Great to have him back, and to have that presence there.”

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