Blue Jays Outfielder and Starting Pitcher Inching Very Close to Inevitable Return
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To say the Toronto Blue Jays have fallen victim to the dreaded injured list this season would be the understatement of the year, as no piece of the roster has been spared and that started before Opening Day.
The starting rotation went from shaping up to be the best in baseball to being dismantled before the first pitch of '26 was thrown, but not everyone who has been on IL was deemed gone for the year, and that includes former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber.
Bieber has been working to get back from swelling in his right elbow alongside many of his teammates, including Nathan Lukes, who has been dealing with a hamstring strain. While Lukes hasn't been gone all year by any means, he is deeply missed in the hitting lineup.
Keep in mind that even though this is Lukes' first trip, and hopefully last, to IL, he was dealing with vertigo while he was available, something that he was just figuring out how to manage. So, when he does come back, he will be in full force.
Bieber and Lukes Latest Rehab Updates
Bieber has been progressing ever so slowly to ensure that he will be back with the team for good when he does return. There hadn't been much news regarding Bieber until his sighting in the bullpen a mere week ago, and now he is finally beginning his rehab assignment.
When Monday rolls around, Bieber will be shooting for two full innings in the Complex League, a huge step forward to rejoining the ballclub.
Lukes meanwhile has already been on his rehab assignment and is scheduled to play Saturday and Sunday again before he is reevaluated. It is hard not to get hopes up regarding his name on the roster, but he is oh so close.
NATHAN LUKES LEAVES THE YARD🚀
— Dunedin Blue Jays (@DunedinBlueJays) May 21, 2026
The @BlueJays rehabber goes yard in his second game for Dunedin! pic.twitter.com/uDFT6norPt
It won't clear Toronto's IL by any means, but having another arm in the rotation as well as a monumental piece to the Jays' 2025 offense return will do nothing but improve the team.
Current Blue Jays Injured List
- Right-Handed Pitcher José Berríos (elbow stress fracture): IL Date- 3/25 (underwent Tommy John, done for season)
- Right-Handed Pitcher Yimi García (UCL surgery recovery from '25): IL Date- 3/25
- Catcher Alejandro Kirk (left thumb fracture: IL Date- 4/4
- Outfielder/Infielder Addison Barger (right elbow inflammation): IL Date- 5/11
- Right-Handed Pitcher Max Scherzer (right forearm tendinitis & left ankle inflammation) IL Date- 4/27
- Right-Handed Pitcher Shane Bieber (right elbow inflammation): IL Date- 3/25
- Outfielder Nathan Lukes (left hamstring strain): 4/25
- Right-Handed Pitcher Lazaro Estrada (right shoulder impingement): IL Date- 4/5
- Right-Handed Pitcher Cody Ponce (ACL surgery): IL Date- 3/31 (likely done for season)
- Outfielder Anthony Santander (left shoulder labral surgery): IL Date- 3/25
- Right-Handed Pitcher Bowden Francis (UCL surgery): IL Date 2/28 (done for season)
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.