Easton Lucas Aces His Second Test Too

The Blue Jays' starting pitching has been phenomenal so far this season. Take away a clunker from José Berríos on Opening Day, and the rotation has a 2.20 ERA, which would be the best in baseball. Pair that with an innings total that's third highest during that time and a 0.96 WHIP that's second in baseball. It's impressive work, and they’ve done most of it without Max Scherzer, was pulled after three innings in his only start and has since been put on the 15-day IL after his chronic thumb injury flared up. Taking his place in the rotation was 28-year old Easton Lucas, who came into this season with just 18 1/3 innings pitched an ERA of 9.82 in his brief big league career. 

Expectations were not that high, but then his first start went well. Matching up against the Nationals' Mackenzie Gore, he threw five innings, only allowed one hit, struck out three and ultimately got the win. As Davy Andrews wrote, he officially “aced” his first start. Then came a real test. No offense to the Nationals, but the Red Sox at Fenway Park are a much tougher test. Lucas took the mound matched up against Garrett Crochet, one of the best left-handed starting pitchers in the game, and stood his ground.

Against leadoff batter Jarren Duran, Lucas used a mix of sweepers and four-seam fastballs before getting a swing and miss on a slider for strike three. Next up, the suddenly red hot, three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner Rafael Devers. It didn't matter. Four pitchers later Lucas had struck him out too. After a pop-out to end the inning, Lucas took the mound for the second, and it was more of the same. Three-pitch strikeout, six-pitch strikeout, and another popup, and Lucas was officially in cruise control.

When all was said and done, his line looked like this: 82 pitches, 5 1/3 innings, three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, and no runs. Most importantly, when he left the mound, the Blue Jays had scored four runs off Crochet and ended up winning, 6-1. 

The two-start stretch that Lucas has been on has been historic. He becomes the fourth Blue Jay ever to record consecutive starts with at least five innings pitched, no runs or extra-base hits, and four or fewer baserunners allowed, sharing that distinction with Dave Steib (1988), Marcus Stroman (2014), and Ross Stripling (2022). It's great company to be in.

After the game, Lucas said, “I have a lot of confidence in where I’m throwing my pitches, that was something that clicked at the end of spring training. I was struggling with commanding my fastball last year and dealing with the adrenaline, so this year I’ve focused on being under control and commanding my fastball, and after that, it opens up everything else.” Locating the fastball and pitching with confidence sounds like a traditional pitching cliché, but clichés are just that for a reason: because they can be true. Lucas threw 46 fastballs in this start, 67% of them in the strike zone, and got five whiffs on the 25 swings that the Red Sox took against it. On paper, a fastball that sits 92 mph and touches 95 mph is slow compared to other starters across the big leagues, but Lucas has found something with that pitch that has led to early success. 

Lucas’s early success has to feel like found money for the Blue Jays. For a team whose main weakness might be its pitching depth, Lucas has taken his opportunity and shown he can run with it. His teammates are noticing it too. Bo Bichette spoke highly of Lucas’s performance, saying, “He’s a big part of our team right now. For him to pitch like that against a lineup like that? It’s cool for all of us to see.”

Lucas’s next test will come on Sunday against another good offence in the Baltimore Orioles, and although the run of success may not last forever, he’s bought himself and the Blue Jays a bit of a run to work through it. It removes pressure on Blue Jays to rush a 40-year old Max Scherzer back from injury too quickly. Every successful baseball team needs the surprise impact player nobody saw coming. The Blue Jays really haven't had a pitcher come up and soar right from the get-go, aside from Bowden Francis late last season. So far, the title of surprise player belongs to Easton Lucas