Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes paid his dues enroute to 2025 World Series

On November 29, 2021 the Blue Jays signed Nathan Lukes to minor-league contract.

Lukes was coming off a strong 2021 season at triple-A with a .303/.352/.456 line, Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins were familiar with him, having picked the former Sacramento State Hornet while with Cleveland in 2015, and the Blue Jays outfield at the time skewed right-handed.

Lukes didn't seem likely to crack the opening-day roster, but his minor-league success, ability to play all outfield positions and left-handed bat gave him a chance to contribute in a bench role or as an injury fill-in at some point.

Lukes spent most of 2022, 2023 and 2024 in the minors. He got a stretch as a seldom-used end-of-the-bench outfielder at the beginning of 2023 and performed well as a lineup staple in September 2024, but his 2025 exceeded reasonable expectations.

The longtime minor-leaguer gave the Blue Jays 438 plate appearances of above-average offensive production (103 wRC+) paired with a strong defensive effort, for a solid 1.8 fWAR.

Lukes played 249 innings in left field, finishing with 4 Defensive Runs Saved and -2 Outs Above Average. In centre field, he had -1 DRS and OAA in 214 innings. But nearly half his playing time was in right field, where he had 7 DRS and 4 OAA in 446.1 innings.

Solid contact ability and a strong arm helped him compensate for limited power and below-average speed on the way to solid per-game impact.

It's still possible Lukes will get the same number of plate appearances next season, who knows what transpires the rest of the off-season and injuries can always happen.

If he doesn't get the same number of plate appearances, the 31-year-old is still a valuable player for the Blue Jays moving forward.