Blue Jays' Lucas showing he belongs with another strong start in win over Red Sox

BOSTON – Now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s future is essentially settled – the final touches on his physical were being completed with an announcement of his $500-million, 14-year deal likely Wednesday – time to get back to some of the other pressing matters for the Toronto Blue Jays.

First and foremost among them is how long Max Scherzer’s thumb issues will keep him sidelined, a concern Easton Lucas is allaying by seizing the opportunity suddenly before him.

Impressive as the left-hander was over five shutout innings against Washington in his first big-league start last week, he was even better on a teeth-chattering frigid Tuesday night at Fenway Park, striking out eight over 5.1 shutout innings in a 6-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.

In what seemed like a mismatch against ace lefty Garrett Crochet, Lucas again stepped up to meet the moment, bullying Red Sox hitters with fastballs at the top of the zone before killing them softly with changeups, sliders and sweepers down.

And the 28-year-old, claimed on waivers from Detroit last August and used regularly as a starter at triple-A for the first time since 2019, looked like a rotation staple while doing it.

“You hope it's one of those feel-good stories, right?” said manager John Schneider. “He’s done a really good job of taking advantage of every resource available and understanding, at this point in his career, how his stuff works and really how good he can be.

“I've said it before, we've liked him since the first time we saw him. He's got a little bit of momentum and he's running with it. It happens at different times for people. You don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I think he's in a really good spot right now.”

Two strong starts are no guarantee of continued performance, of course, and as Schneider pointed out before the game, the flow of information once a player in the majors is “like football, as soon as you put stuff on tape people are going to react to it.”

In other words, the Red Sox weren’t going to be caught by surprise by what Lucas was featuring.

It didn’t matter.

“That was unbelievable,” said Bo Bichette, who drove in three runs on three hits and a walk. “Fenway's not an easy place to play. That team's really good, and I really thought he pitched with no fear.”

That he still shoved against a lineup that scored 36 runs in a three-game sweep of St. Louis over the weekend and featured seven right-handed batters reinforces the reasons why the Blue Jays believed in Lucas in the first place.

“With Max not in there right now, we've got to fill that void and whether Lucas was completely ready or not, he certainly showed it in that first game,” said pitching coach Pete Walker. “If he can execute pitches, he certainly has the stuff to get major-league hitters out, which we saw in that first game. … With every day you pitch in the big leagues and have success, your confidence grows and all of a sudden you start believing that you belong.”

Which is exactly what’s happening.

“I have a lot of confidence in where I'm throwing my pitches,” said Lucas. “That was kind of something that clicked at the end of spring training. I was struggling to command my fastball last year and just dealing with the adrenaline. So this year, I've focused on being under control and commanding my fastball. After that, it opens up everything else.”

Making Lucas look like he belonged all the more so is that he matched Crochet zero for zero until the Blue Jays finally broke through with a four-run sixth. George Springer, who’s been carrying the offence out of the gate, crushed a 404-foot home to centre to open the scoring, a second run scored on Tyler Heineman’s infield single and Bo Bichette capped the outburst with a two-run single off reliever Zack Kelly.

The Red Sox scratched out a run off Yariel Rodriguez in the seventh when Andrés Giménez couldn’t pick Ceddanne Rafaela’s odd chopper up the middle, allowing Romy González to come around, but the Blue Jays tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a Bichette RBI single and Anthony Santander RBI groundout, giving the club another low-leverage finish.

Lucas, of course, did the heavy lifting, and while Scherzer played catch Monday despite what he called “some lingering tightness due to the (cortisone) injection,” there’s no clear timeline for his return, meaning his spot will be open for the foreseeable future.

The length Rodriguez had built up during spring training is beginning to fade, meaning Eric Lauer at Buffalo is probably the next on the depth chart if there’s a need. But Lucas is not only covering the gap, he’s excelling, and there’s reason to believe it can continue.

"If his fastball has the life at the top of the zone that that it's capable of having, players have to respect that,” explained Heineman. “And then to drop in a changeup that has the same arm-speed, you're going to get a lot of weak contact and swing and miss on it, especially when people are geared up for fastball. With sliders it's all about location, in general, but especially to righties. If you're locating a fastball up and throwing a slider off of that, being able to show that you can throw a fastball down as well, it's really beneficial because they can't really zone you up in any area.”

Added Walker: “Hopefully Max is back soon and that's what we're counting on. In the meantime, a guy like Easton gets a chance to show what he can do and if he gives us a few quality starts like that moving on into the season, knowing we got that kind of depth and that kind of arm just sitting there, is nice.”

If he turns into more than that, even better.

“It’s awesome,” Lucas said of the momentum he’s built. “Just trusting in my stuff and knowing that if I can throw it in the strike zone and command where I want it to go, it's going to get results. Being able to do that is awesome. I keep saying that, I guess, but it's a lot of fun.”

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