Toronto Blue Jays Manager Makes Decision About Struggling Starting Pitcher
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It's back to the drawing board for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Seemingly coming into their home series against the Seattle Mariners with momentum, the AL East hopefuls dropped the set, losing the final two games by a combined score of 16-7.
The contest on Sunday was the most alarming because they never had a chance.
Easton Lucas, who had two brilliants starts to begin the year where he allowed no earned runs and just four hits in 10 1/3 innings pitched, was shelled for his second straight outing, giving up six earned runs in the first two innings against the Mariners.
That is now 14 earned runs he's allowed in his last two starts, looking like a completely different version of what he was to open 2025.
Because of that, there was some thought that his role might change or he could get sent down to Triple-A Buffalo to figure some things out.
However, that is not the plan "as of now" according to manager John Schneider.
John Schneider says “as of now” the Blue Jays plan to keep Easton Lucas in the rotation. They don’t want to overwork their veteran starters, Schneider said.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) April 20, 2025
This makes sense from a big-picture perspective.
While Lucas has struggled the last two games and the team lost both of those outings, he's also proven he can pitch at a high level in the bigs, as well.
The key for the Blue Jays will be helping him turn around his performances.
Toronto is already shorthanded at the moment with Max Scherzer on the shelf with his thumb issue, so putting more pressure and mileage on veteran arms in the early going could come back to haunt them if they hastily moved on from Lucas.
This will be something to keep an eye on, though.
Schneider made sure to say "as of now" when giving an answer about the situation regarding Lucas. So if the left-hander continues to struggle, there could be a change of plans.
