Nathan Lukes was 28 years old and in his ninth professional season when he made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023. He almost didn’t make it that far. Life down on the farm isn’t exactly a bed of roses, and that was especially true prior to conditions — financial and otherwise — improving via a collective bargaining agreement that essentially coincided with his reaching the bigs. A few years earlier, Lukes almost walked away.
“It’s been a journey,” Lukes said of his path, which began when Cleveland selected him in the seventh round of the 2015 draft out of Cal State Sacramento. “Five games into my career — this was in short-season ball — I broke my hamate and was out for the rest of the year. The next year, I started in Low-A, and halfway through I got traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline. I stayed with the Rays until my minor-league contract was up, then signed here [in November 2021].
“It was getting to the point where it was almost time to think about hanging it up,” continued Lukes, whom the Blue Jays placed on the IL with a hamstring strain prior to yesterday’s game. “But then, in 2023, they put me on the 40-man roster. Pretty much as long I had that 40-man ticket, I was going to keep running with it.”
The now-31-year-old outfielder didn’t feel that he had stalled out developmentally when he pondered calling it a career — “I always felt that I could play in the big leagues” — but he did recognize that there is more to life than baseball. Lukes and his wife had a child in 2021, and as he explained. “Family changes things.” While his financial situation had improved somewhat thanks to minor-league free agency, he was “going to play the 2022 season, and after that, probably just be a dad.”
“You weren’t getting rich,” I said to Lukes in our spring training conversation. “No,” he replied. “I was getting poor. My wife was working at the time, which helped… actually, it didn’t just help, it kept us running. At the lower levels, I was bringing home six thousand dollars a year after taxes, so I was making a thousand dollars a month. The most I ever made on a minor-league contract was $15,000. You can’t really do too much with that.”
Asked what he would be doing if not for baseball, Lukes told me that he studied criminal justice in college and “would already be a cop” had he not been drafted. As for once his playing days are over, law enforcement is no longer an aspiration. Moreover, he has “No Plan B” post-baseball. That is something he can concern himself at a later time. For now, it’s about getting back to the World Series.
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That his career already includes being part of a team that played in the Fall Classic — the Blue Jays, of course, fell excruciatingly short of a title last October — is something I asked Lukes about. Did that experience change his life in any way?
“Being able to say that you’ve played in the World Series is great,” replied Lukes. “The bonuses were pretty good too, but more than that, what we got to feel being in those games is something that none of us will ever forget.”
The postseason bonus money was probably more than his yearly salaries in the minors…
“Oh, yeah,” Lukes acknowledged. “Easily more.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Spencer Horwitz is 10 for 10 against Nick Martinez.
Rogers Hornsby went 9 for 13 against Lefty York.
Rudy York went 9 for 14 against Emerson Dickman.
Chris Speier went 7 for 10 against Jim York.
Stan Spence went 16 for 31 against Nels Potter.
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Brandon Sproat’s repertoire runs six deep. Ordered by present-season usage, the 25-year-old Milwaukee Brewers right-hander throws a sinker, a cutter, a curveball, sweeper, a four-seamer, and a changeup. Which of those offerings is the most interesting in terms of characteristics, development story, or whatever else?
“I don’t know,” Sproat told me earlier this month. “I’m just trying to put them to good use. Right now, it’s mainly the sinker and the four-seam, how we’re mixing them in. We’re looking to throw them 60 percent, 40 percent. But most interesting in terms of development… I think all of them are a work in progress. There isn’t a certain one where I need to be working on it more than others. I work on every single one of them every day.
“The one pitch I’ve added is the sweeper, two years ago,” added the 2023 second-rounder, who made his MLB debut with the New York Mets last September before being dealt to Milwaukee over the offseason. “That’s about it. Nothing else has really changed since coming into pro ball. I’ve been told my sinker is good, and that my curveball is good, but I don’t really deep-dive into the analytics of it. I just go out there and try to get outs.”
Sproat has made five appearances on the season and has a 6.45 ERA and a 6.02 FIP over 22-and-a-third innings. His sinker/four-seamer split has been less utilized than planned. He has thrown the former at a 29.6% clip (to a .250 BA and .250 SLG), the latter (.375 BA, .625 SLG) at just 9.7%.
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When I talked to him last August, Casey Mize told me that the “bigger” slider he’d added to his arsenal wasn’t a sweeper, as it only had about eight inches of horizontal movement. Developed at Driveline in the 2024-2025 offseason, and meant to complement his gyro slider, it was promising, yet in want of enhancement. As Mize put it, “[Increasing] the horizontal is probably the biggest thing on the docket.”
Catching up to the Detroit Tigers right-hander last weekend, I learned that the pitch is still a work in progress, and mostly residing in his back pocket.
“I’m still throwing the short slider — I haven’t changed that — but the bigger slider, I changed the grip on this past offseason,” Mize explained. “I went back to Driveline and worked with them, and felt like I had it pretty dialed in, but it hasn’t translated into the season, so I’m not throwing it a ton. When I do, it’s a little too depth-y. It’s going left, but it’s more like a slurve. Sometimes I’m even like nine horizontal and negative-ten vert. It’s almost like a curveball at times. I’m definitely not throwing a sweeper.”
Classified as a slurve, and thrown just 17 times in the current campaign, it hasn’t really been needed. Through five starts, Mize has a 2.51 ERA, a 2.98 FIP, and a career-best 27.4% strikeout rate over 28-and-two-thirds innings.
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A quiz:
Nolan Ryan threw seven no-hitters, the most in MLB history, while Sandy Koufax held a team hitless four times. Two pitchers have tossed three no-hitters in the modern era (since 1901). Who are they?
Bonus question: Which pitcher threw one no-hitter in the 1890s, and two more in the 1900s?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
Ellie Rodriguez, a catcher who played for five teams across the 1968-1975 seasons, has died at age 79 (per ESPN Deportes). A native of Puerto Rico who in 1969 was the first player to represent the Kansas City Royals in the All-Star game, Rodriguez — then a California Angel — was behind the plate when Nolan Ryan no-hit the Baltimore Orioles on June 1.
Chuck Nieson, a right-hander whose big-league career comprised a pair of appearances for the Minnesota Twins in 1964, died earlier this month at age 83. He just missed three-true-outcomes perfection. Pitching on back-to-back days against the Boston Red Sox, Nieson went F-8, K, BB, K in his first outing, and HR, K,K, K in his second outing. Niesen also just missed the record for most strikeouts to conclude a career. Per Stathead’s Katie Sharp, four pitchers fanned the final four batters they faced in the majors: Buddy Boshers, Maikel Cleto, Trevor Rosenthal, and Billy Wagner.
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The answer to the quiz is Bob Feller (no-hitters in 1940, 1946, and 1951) and Justin Verlander (2007, 2011, 2019). Cy Young is the answer to the bonus question. He turned the trick in 1897, 1904, and 1908.
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Identical twins were umpiring behind the plate in a pair of recent New York Yankees games. Tyler Jones was calling balls and strikes at Yankee Stadium a week ago yesterday, while Austin Jones was doing so at Fenway Park this past Tuesday. They are the fourth set of brothers, and the first set of twins, to umpire in MLB.
The Yankees didn’t employ the same catcher in the respective games — J.C. Escarra caught one, Austin Wells the other — depriving me of an opportunity to ask, “Did you think the same guy was behind you both times?”
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Tom Poquette was a solid contributor on Kansas City Royals teams that won three straight AL West titles (1976-1978), only to lose to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. A left-handed-hitting outfielder from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Poquette put up his best numbers in the first of those campaigns, slashing .302/.361/.430 with 18 doubles, 10 triples, two home runs, and a 131 wRC+. On June 15 of that year, he went 5-for-6 with 10 total bases in a 21-7 win over the Detroit Tigers.
His overall numbers are modest. Playing for three teams across the 1973-1982 seasons — he also suited up for Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers — Poquette posted a 91 wRC+ and 2.8 WAR, logging just 329 hits along the way. He later served as a minor-league manager and hitting coach in the Royals system.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Ryosuke Ohtsu is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA over four starts comprising 28 innings for NPB’s Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. The 27-year-old right-hander has fanned 25 batters and issued just one walk. He went 6-2, 1.92 over a dozen appearances a year ago.
José Quijada has made 10 scoreless relief appearances for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and has earned a save in all of them. The 30-year-old southpaw pitched for the Miami Marlins in 2019, and the Los Angeles Angels from 2020-2025.
Caleb Boushley is 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA over five starts comprising 28 innings for the KBO’s KT Wiz. The 32-year-old right-hander appeared in 25 games for the Texas Rangers last season.
Hyun Jin Ryu has made four starts and is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA over 24-and-a-third innings for the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles.The 39-year-old left-hander has gone 201-121 as a professional, including 78-48 in MLB with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Jordan Balazovic has made four starts and is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA over 21 innings for the CPBL’s Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. The 27-year-old Mississauga, Ontario native — a member of Team Canada in the WBC — pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 2023. This is his first season in Taiwan.
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Hao-Yu Lee was 20 years old and had recently finished a High-A season when he led Sunday Notes on September 24, 2023. A few short years later, he has a handful of big-league hits under his belt. Playing in his third game with the Detroit Tigers this past Monday, the Taiwan native singled twice in a game at Fenway.
“He was super thrilled to get his first,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said afterward. “There is only one first. There have been a couple of games where he has been really wanting to do it, and I’m glad he did it here. And he got a second one, as well. Young guys start to settle in when they get their first, and hopefully he can feel like a big-leaguer.”
The now-23-year-old infielder was clearly pleased to have notched his first knocks, saying through an interpreter that he he was “very happy [to have] finally done it.” Asked what he planned to do with the baseball, he said that he plans to keep it, as it is “one thing that will happen once in a lifetime.”
I asked Hao-Yu what his expectations were when we’d spoken prior to a West Michigan Whitecaps game three years ago. Was he expecting to reach MLB, or was he simply hoping and dreaming that it would happen?
“It’s always been my goal to make the big leagues,” replied Hao-Yu, who was originally in the Philadelphia Phillies system and came to the Tigers via trade midway through the 2023 season. “At the beginning, when I first signed, I gave myself five years to reach the bigs, and this actually my fifth year.”
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FARM NOTES
Franklin Arias is slashing .420/.492/.920 with seven home runs and a 224 wRC+ in 59 plate appearances for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. The 20-year-old Venezuelan-born shortstop in the Boston Red Sox system is No. 14 in our Top 100.
Murf Gray is slashing .348/.425/.565 with three home runs and a 173 wRC+ in 81 plate appearances for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. The 22-year-old third baseman was selected in the second round of last year’s draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Cal State Fresno.
Taitn Gray is slashing .317/.429/.500 with two home runs and a 147 wRC+ in 77 plate appearances for the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs. The 18-year-old switch-hitting first baseman was taken in the third round of last year’s draft by the Tampa Bay Rays out of a Grimes, Iowa high school.
Caden Bodine went 4-for-4 with a triple and a home run on Thursday as the RiverDogs edged the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 10-9. Drafted 30th overall last year by the Baltimore Orioles out of Coastal Carolina, the 22-year-old, switch-hitting catcher was acquired by the Rays as part of December’s Shane Baz deal. Bodine is slashing .408/.457/.662 with three homers and a 189 wRC+ in 83 plate appearances.
Also on Thursday, the Great Lakes Loons (High-A, Dodgers) rallied with nine runs in the ninth inning to beat the Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins) 13-9. Nico Perez, a 21-year-old shortstop who is slashing .328/.421/.469 with a 137 wRC+ over 76 plate appearances, hit a grand slam in the decisive frame.
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Jackson Wolf believes in the power of positive thinking. I learned as much when I talked to the 27-year-old left-hander in the San Diego Padres organization during spring training.
“How does what you do in your personal life affect how you control yourself on the field?,” said Wolf, beginning his thoughtful observation in question form. “I would say that a lot of people’s demeanor outside the field can really affect their mentality once they take the mound. Being easygoing, and a positive person, carries over to the mound in positive ways. You’re constantly thinking positive thoughts and telling yourself you can. I think that is only going to bring yourself success, whatever it is you do.”
Wolf, whose lone MLB appearance came with the Padres in 2023, is currently taking the mound for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas. He was featured here at FanGraphs in September 2022.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
The best fastballs on the farm? MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo teamed up to choose one from each of the 30 organizations.
Texas’s Evan Carter hit an inside-the-park home run two pitches after a successful ABS challenge turned a walk into a still-in-progress plate appearance. MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry has the story.
Cam Schlittler is proving that his rookie breakout with the Yankees wasn’t a fluke. Julian McWilliams wrote about it at CBS Sports.
Pitcher List’s Jack Foley wrote about Seattle’s Emerson Hancock.
Richard Deitsch wrote about broadcaster extraordinaire Jason Benetti for Sports Business Journal.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Los Angeles Dodgers batters have combined for a .357 OBP, highest among MLB clubs. New York Mets batters have combined for a .292 OBP, lowest among MLB clubs.
San Francisco Giants batters have combined to hit 18 home runs, tied for the fewest in the majors, and steal eight bases, the fewest in the majors. The team’s 91 runs scored is tied for the fewest in the majors.
Yordan Alvarez has a .464 OBP, the highest among qualified hitters. Cedric Mullins has a .209 OBP, lowest among qualified hitters.
Ernie Clement has 12 doubles and no home runs. Munetaka Murakami has 11 home runs and no doubles.
In 1971, New York Yankees outfielder Bobby Murcer finished seventh in AL MVP voting after slashing .331/.427/.543 with a 176 wRC+ and 6.5 WAR. Kansas City Royals shortstop Freddie Patek finished sixth in AL MVP voting after slashing .267/.323/.371 with a 97 wRC+ and 3.2 WAR.
Red Ruffing had a record of 39-96 pitching for the Red Sox, and a record of 231-124 pitching for the Yankees. The right-hander batted .269 with five home runs and a 73 wRC+ with Boston, and .270 with 31 home runs and an 84 wRC+ with New York.
On today’s date in 1995, Dante Bichette hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Colorado Rockies an 11-9 win over the New York Mets. Larry Walker had earlier sent the game into extras with a two-out, run-scoring double in the ninth.
Frank McCormick hit a walk-off home run, and Bucky Walters went 13 innings for the win, as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 on today’s date in 1944. Walker, whose 160 wins are fourth-most in Reds franchise history, finished the season with a record of 23-8. In 1939, the right-hander had gone 27-11 and captured NL MVP honors.
Players born on today’s date include Granny Hamner, an infielder who played almost exclusively for the Philadelphia Phillies in a career that spanned the 1944-1962 seasons. Twelfth in Phillies franchise history with 1,501 games played, Hamner was the first player to start the All-Star game at two positions, doing so at shortstop in 1952, and second base in 1954. His ledger also includes seven pitching appearances, with a knuckleball notable among his offerings.
Also born on today’s date was Olaf Henriksen, a reserve outfielder who saw action in 321 games for the Boston Red Sox from 1911-1917. The only native of Denmark in MLB history, Henriksen was part of three World Series-winning squads, and he contributed a hit that made the first of those titles possible. In the winner-take-all finale of the 1912 Fall Classic, Henriksen had a seventh-inning, game-tying, pinch-hit double off of Christy Mathewson.