Former A's Southpaw Making First Career Start For Toronto Blue Jays

Former A's reliever to make a start for Toronto on Wednesday against the Nationals.

Feb 22, 2025; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Easton Lucas (62) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees during the first inning at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

A few days ago, future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer left his first start of the season with a thumb injury. that has landed him on the 15-day IL Taking Scherzer's spot in the rotation is none other than former A's reliever, Easton Lucas.

Easton Lucas was originally drafted in the 14th round back in 2019 by the Miami Marlins out of Pepperdine. A few months after the draft, the Marlins sent Lucas to the Baltimore Orioles in the trade that sent Jonathan Villar to Miami.

After spending a few years in the Orioles organization, he was sent to the A's in exchange for Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami. Lucas made his MLB Debut with the A's in 2023, and would struggle at the start of 2024, which caused the team to DFA the left-hander. The Detroit Tigers would claim him just a few days later.

Lucas would only spend a couple of months in the Tigers organization before being DFA'd again, which led his current team, the Blue Jays, to claim him off waivers.

The left-hander went into Blue Jays camp this year looking to win a spot on the pitching staff. However, on March 14th, the club optioned him to Triple-A Buffalo. The Max Scherzer injury has created a spot for Lucas, and the team announced that the southpaw would make his first MLB start on Wednesday against the Nationals.

His stats at the big-league level thus far in his career are very underwhelming. He holds a career 9.82 ERA in 14 appearances spanning 18.1 innings pitched.

However, all of his innings have come in relief. It seems like now the Jays' are looking to have Lucas become a starting pitcher, which could make him a better player in a different role, because clearly he had his struggles coming out of the bullpen.

Lucas has made 146 appearances in his minor-league career, and just 13 of those have been as a starting pitcher. Nine of those 13 starts came in 2019. During camp, Lucas made four appearances (three starts) and held an 8.64 ERA across 8.1 innings of work. This could end up being a fairly short start, depending on what his pitch limit is.

Overall, Easton Lucas has gone through a lot in his short MLB career. He's been traded twice and DFA'd and claimed just as many times. Hopefully the left-hander can perform well in his new role with the Blue Jays, and it starts by putting together a strong start against Washington.