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The 30-year-old Lukes has long waited for the opportunity to play consistently at the big-league level. He appeared in more than 600 minor-league games between 2015 and 2022 before finally making his MLB debut at age 28 in 2023.

Now, he’s听a regular fixture in the starting lineup 鈥� and he’s been making an impact.

Lukes hit a walk-off single to beat the San Diego Padres on Thursday in a game where he went 3-for-4 and improved his on-base-plus-slugging percentage to .808 on the year. A day earlier, he hit a key two-run homer, his fourth of the season.

In manager John Schneider鈥檚 telling, Lukes is hitting his stride, showing more intent with his swings and making his at-bats more efficient and impactful.听He doesn’t strike out all that often, squares up balls at a respectable rate and has an above-average arm in the outfield, .听

鈥淚 think that he鈥檚 coming into his own as a player,鈥� Schneider said. “I’m happy for him. He’s worked really hard to get to this point and it’s paying off.”听

Even when he reached the higher levels of minor-league ball and an MLB role felt closer, the native of Sacramento, Calif. battled injuries.听He suffered a gruesome thumb injury in 2024听that kept him out for two months while in Buffalo, and spent a pair of shorter stints on the injured list in both the Blue Jays and Rays organizations.

鈥淗is career has been weird, and injuries have been a big part of it,鈥� Schneider observed. “I think Nate’s just in a good spot and understanding what he’s good at.”

Now, his manager听says, he鈥檚 healthy and confident, which has given the Jays a lot of trust in him.

They even had him lay down a bunt with two strikes against a left-handed pitcher in the seventh inning of Wednesday night鈥檚 game, a gambit that ultimately paid off and ignited what would become a five-run bat-around inning.

鈥淚 trust Nate to be a baseball player,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to bunt left-on-left like that, and he put down a perfect one. It鈥檚 a credit to him, and I got a lot听of trust in him.鈥�

Lukes echoed the importance of confidence, which has helped him get off to a solid start to the season in which he’s driven in 16 runs in fewer than 100 plate appearances.

鈥淭he confidence is听a big thing in baseball and right now; I鈥檓 just running with it,鈥� Lukes said. “I like to shoot for the moon, so hopefully (I can) just get (the ball) up even more.”

His teammates have taken notice, too.

Myles Straw, the gold glover who has shared outfield duties with Lukes since coming over from the Cleveland Guardians in the winter, said his strength as a hitter is his ability to hit line drives to all parts of the field.

鈥淗e鈥檚 just very consistent 鈥� consistent in the field, consistent hitting,鈥� Straw said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, he can hit a line drive to right, left or centre. So when you show signs of that, you can be a pretty good hitter.鈥�

鈥淚f I was making the lineup, I鈥檇 have him in there every day,鈥� said infielder Ernie Clement, who was standing on first base when Lukes hit a towering听home run Wednesday night. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just really, really impressive to see him put up the at-bats that听he has when not playing every day.鈥�

Lukes has already suited up in a career-high 35 MLB games this season, but playing time is no guarantee with fellow outfielders Alan Roden, Jonatan Clase and Davis Schneider all in the system.

For now, he’s taking every opportunity in, and says it makes all those years spent in the minor leagues worth it for the chance to play at the highest level.听

鈥淩ight now, I feel like it’s all paying off,鈥� Lukes said.