Nathan Lukes reflects on MLB journey back to Sacramento | Sacramento Bee

An 80-mph dribbler down the third-base line may not have been what Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes had in mind to kick off his Sacramento homecoming.

But the hustle down the line that followed, resulting in a single for the visiting leadoff hitter to start Friday’s 7-6 win over the A’s, was a representation of Lukes’ hard-working attitude, according to his former head coach at Sacramento State, Reggie Christiansen.

For the veteran skipper, Lukes’ effort has been a trait that has stood out since they first met, when he was getting recruited to play at Sac State while attending Center High School in Antelope.

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“At that time, Nathan was a very undersized, skinny middle infielder that just played really hard,” Christiansen said of Lukes in high school. “That effort (shown on Friday) is really the same thing he did 10-plus years ago for us, so it was really cool to see.”

On top of Friday being the first time Christiansen had seen Lukes play a big-league game in person, many of the outfielder’s family and friends were in attendance at Sutter Health Park for the first time his Blue Jays visited the A’s during their three-year stay in West Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas.

“It brought me back to my roots, because I played on this field a few times in high school, and then again, a few times in college,” Lukes said. “I moved to Arizona in 2016 but this is still considered home so it’s fun coming back.”

Lukes is a ‘winning ball player’

In the fifth inning of Friday’s game, Lukes came up in a big spot after striking out against A’s starter Luis Severino to lead off the frame.

While Severino had gotten two outs, a series of defensive miscues had extended the inning, the lineup had turned over and reliever Jack Perkins was looking to stop the bleeding for the A’s with two outs and the bases loaded.

The 5-0 lead the Blue Jays had acquired to that point wouldn’t have been enough to overcome a late A’s rally, but Lukes didn’t let up against his now hometown team.

A rocketed 100-mph ground ball took a tough hop off A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz toward the visiting dugout for what was scored a double, plating two runs on Lukes’ second hit of the game.

“That one was the baseball gods saying, ‘Welcome back to Sacramento,’” Lukes said of his hits on Friday. “It was cool doing that in front of everybody.”

While both hits involved some good fortune, Blue Jays manager John Schneider attributed Lukes’ success, instead, to a consistent approach and called him a “winning ball player.”

“He’s a baseball player and he understands how to win and I think the more guys you have like that, the better off the team is going to be,” Schneider said. “There’s not really much he can’t do, and he’s coming into his own as a big leaguer.”

Lukes went 0-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt on Saturday after coming off the bench, out of the lineup as the A’s started lefty Jacob Lopez in what concluded as a 4-3 A’s victory.

While Lukes is unlikely to start Sunday’s 1:05 p.m. matinee due to another A’s lefty, Jeffrey Springs, scheduled to toe the rubber, he may enter off the bench to face a right-handed reliever as he did on Saturday.

A long road to the majors

After being drafted in the seventh round by the Cleveland Guardians in 2015, Lukes has spent some time in the minors each of the last 10 seasons, outside of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Lukes said his support system is a big part of the reason he stuck with it in the minor leagues, he said the 2022 season, which he spent entirely with the Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons without getting called up, was nearly his last.

After years in the Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays farm systems, Lukes, married with a daughter at that point, felt like the sacrifices he had to make may not have been worth it anymore.

“This life is just rough for families. The amount of travel, I just felt like I wasn’t really giving my family what they really needed,” Lukes said. “They’ve been giving me all the support in the world, but I felt like it was my time to give support to them.”

Then, he got added to the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, which he called the “golden ticket” to making his Major League Baseball debut in 2023.

“That was the last sign of saying don’t give this up just yet,” Lukes said Saturday, also his 31st birthday.

2025 ‘a huge confidence booster’

After a 29-game stint with the Blue Jays in 2023 and an impressive 22-game showing in 2024, where he held a .818 on-base plus slugging percentage, Lukes got his chance in 2025.

While he is typically a platoon bat, Lukes, who has only taken 15 at-bats against lefties this season, has appeared in 67 games and played a big role for the Blue Jays, who are currently first in the competitive American League East.

“Just to make it to the big leagues, so many things have to go your way,” Christiansen said. “It’s a testament to him, every time he’s got his opportunity, he’s taken advantage of it. Now, he’s taken advantage of to the point where he’s going to get opportunities for a long time now.

“The Blue Jays are in first place for a reason, they’ve got guys like him on the roster.”

Earning the occasional leadoff spot has further improved Lukes’ confidence as he has established himself in the majors.

“It was just a huge confidence booster of, ‘Hey, you belong here, you’re not going anywhere. We trust you,’” Lukes said.

Lukes played leader at Sac State, Center

Christiansen said Sac State “took a chance” on the roughly 130-pound Lukes because his brother, Shea Lukes, was already in the program. He’s certainly glad he did.

Lukes was an everyday starter all three years at Sac State and was an All-Western Athletic Conference pick in both his second and third years.

“He’s a really quiet kid but he really led by example,” Christiansen said. “He just did everything that he knew he had to do to find a way to become a better baseball player from the day he walked on our campus until he left.”

Lukes holds the program’s career hits record with 244 and is near the top in multiple other offensive categories. Fittingly, Lukes tied the hit record with a home run while playing a game at Sutter Health Park, then known as Raley Field, in May 2015 during a 7-1 win against UC Davis.

Even for a program with five players in MLB this year, including James Outman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Rhys Hoskins of the Milwaukee Brewers, Lukes is the school’s sixth-highest MLB draft pick since it became Division I in 1990.

Lukes played alongside his brother who he said was “always the better baseball player,” both in high school and college before an arm injury at Sac State ended Shea’s career.

“He’s pretty much the reason why I’m the player I am today,” Lukes said. “I’ve always looked up to him. I’ve always competed with him.”

Lukes was a standout middle infielder all four years at Center, especially his senior year when he won MVP of the Pioneer Valley League after hitting .450 with 24 runs, 26 RBIs and four home runs.

He was also among the best pitchers in the league, posting a 5-0 record, a 0.62 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 45 innings. To boot, the future Blue Jay also played soccer for two years.

While he hasn’t gotten the call to pitch in a lopsided MLB contest yet, Lukes said it nearly happened in 2023.

“I don’t think my heart has ever been that fast in my life,” Lukes said.

This story was originally published July 13, 2025 5:00 AM.