The Toronto Blue Jays might have found another starting pitcher to add to the rotation
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The Toronto Blue Jays have made some serious adjustments to their starting rotation and bullpen for the 2025 season but it looks like there are not done just yet as Easton Lucas seems to be making a serious case for himself.
The Blue Jays announced their starting pitchers for the first 4 games of Spring Training which will include Max Scherzer, Jose Berrios, Jake Bloss, Yariel Rodriguez, Bowden Francis and Easton Lucas.
Easton Lucas might have a chance at cracking the Blue Jays starting rotation
The Blue Jays kick off their first game of the Spring Training season tomorrow against the New York Yankees and have announced that Lucas will be starting things off for them.
Taking the ball for the club's first exhibition contest of the spring will be left-hander Easton Lucas, as manager John Schneider revealed Thursday. It's somewhat of a surprising decision, considering 34 of his 38 appearances in the minors last season were as a reliever. But of those four starts he made, three occurred with the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto's triple-A affiliate -Hall
Many were surprised that the Blue Jays were giving Lucas was getting a shot as a starting pitcher since the majority of his games last seasons were as a reliever but he made three starts in Triple-A last season which he did really well in which is why he is now getting this chance.
The Blue Jays claimed Lucas off the Tigers last season and he only made 2 appearances for Toronto in which he finished with an abysmal 11.57 ERA in those games.
Lucas, claimed off waivers from Detroit last August, pitched to a 1.37 ERA and 2.50 FIP with 21 strikeouts across 19.2 innings with Buffalo in 2024. Overall, he logged 68.2 innings at triple-A between the Athletics, Tigers and Blue Jays organizations, registering a 2.75 ERA, 3.61 FIP and 16.1-per-cent strikeout-to-walk rate difference. -Hall
Despite those rough numbers, he seems to be impressing a lot of people at Spring Training which is why they are giving him a chance as a starting pitcher against the Yankees.
This decision probably has something to do with Bowden Francis since the Blue Jays saw him struggle in the bullpen last season but when they moved him to a starting position, he improved drastically.
Source: Blue Jays Nation
Easton Lucas to start Blue Jays' Grapefruit League opener versus Yankees
Easton Lucas to start Blue Jays' Grapefruit League opener versus Yankees
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