The Blue Jays announced a few roster moves, selecting outfielder Nathan Lukes to the 40-man roster. He would have qualified for minor league free agency today otherwise. Additionally, Hyun Jin Ryu and Vinny Capra were reinstated from the 60-day IL.
Lukes, 28, spent most of his minor league career in the Rays’ system before reaching free agency a year ago. He signed a minor league deal with the Jays and spent 2022 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He got into 111 games and hit .285/.364/.425 for a wRC+ of 111. He also swiped 20 bags on the year.
Defensively, Lukes split his time between the three outfield positions, though spent more in center than the corners. He could be an interesting fourth outfielder for the Jays, especially given his left-handed bat. The club skews heavily right-handed, particularly in the outfield. All four of George Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Whit Merrifield hit from the right side.
As for Ryu and Capra, those moves are formalities since the IL ends today and doesn’t come back until Spring Training. That means all players must be reinstated or else removed from the roster in some way. Ryu required Tommy John surgery in June and will miss at least half of 2023. Capra was recalled from the minors in October and placed on the IL due to left middle finger tendon surgery.
Yay Ryu is back. Haha.
Ryu is back!
Who’s Nathan Lukes
Mario if you click on his name for a link to baseball refence, that should answer all your questions.
sac state alumni! good for him, had been deserving call-up for past few years
Goodbye Tilapia! But I still think the Jays should improve on the OF this offseason with Nukes only being called up in case of injury.
I think Zimmer is gone before Tapia
On last weeks at the letters they said they think tapia is a for sure non tender
I don’t see them tendering Tapia at over $5m when they already have Merrifield. Selecting Lukes seems to be a pretty good hint too.
Moving Deck chairs on the titanic. The Jays need pitching pitching pitching and borderline 4th outfielder types aren’t going to help win a WS. The Jays need to get on Senga, Burnes, or Degrom plus two more flamethrower arms for the bullpen.
It only took 2 years for Dombrowski to get the Phil’s to the WS and now he is trying to sign Trea Turner. Rogers could have had DD running the Jays but they chose Shapiro. Happy renovations and no WS for the Jays in 2023.
Yeah because it’s impossible to do two things at once. If you’re looking for help at one position, there’s no possible way you can tinker with the rest of the roster at the same time, right? *facepalm*
DD didn’t get them to the WS, the players did that. The Phil’s front office go then to 87 wins and a third wildcard spot.
@scoutseyes, do you hear yourself??? This is a basically routine move to deal with minor league depth. We get it, you don’t like SHATKINS/CLEVELAND CLOWNS or whatever, but overreacting to literally every move they make if it doesn’t involve signing ohtani, trout and/or judge is borderline insane. Get a hobby.
I like this. He looked good in spring training last year. Had a decent year in Buffalo too. Keeps him in the organization at a time they don’t really have a lot of outfielders in the upper levels.
Look out, #scoutseyes is back! Amazing his talents aren’t already part of an MLB front office! Some gem takes from his past:
– Bichette doesn’t have an mlb bat
– Manoah not T.O.R. stuff… mid rotation, at best.
– jays brass won’t sign top dollar guys and they won’t come here (oops… Ryu, Springer)
And don’t forget these two gems:
– Semien huge overpay and bad signing (finished 4th in MVP voting)
– Robbie Ray, dumpster diving 5th pitcher. Horrible trade & signing. (Cy young)
And the ever-prophetic “Stroman’s wrists and core are too weak to be an MLB calibre starter”.
Top notch analysis right there.