The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a tough 2-1 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, continuing their early season struggles.

The reigning American League champions, who have been beset by injuries thus far, are now 7-10 on the young season. The Brewers improved to 9-8. 

While the injuries are the biggest story for the Blue Jays so far, there are also stories of underperformance to pay attention to in the early going.

Kazuma Okamoto, signed to be a thumper in the middle of the order, is hitting just .213. Nathan Lukes, who was an integral part of the 2025 team that got to the World Series, is hitting just .065, one of the worst starts in team history.

Per @StatsCentre:

Worst batting average - #BlueJays player's first 13 appearances of a season (min. of 30 at-bats):

.059- Greg Myers (1989)

.059- Moises Sierra (2014)

.059- Danny Jansen (2021)

.065- Nathan Lukes (2026) .

067- Socrates Brito (2019)

.075- Luke Maile (2017)

.077- Randal Grichuk (2018)

A 31-year-old native of Portland, Ore., Lukes was a seventh-round pick of Cleveland in 2015 out of Cal State-Sacramento. He made his debut in 2023 but didn't become a big-league regular until 2025, when he played in 135 games for the Jays. He hit .255 with a .323 on-base percentage, also smacking 12 home runs while driving in 65.

He hit near the top of the order in several playoff games as well.

With injuries to Anthony Santander, Addison Barger and George Springer, the Jays can't really afford to move on from Lukes or try to send him down to Triple-A. That said, he'll have to start hitting if he wants to earn consistent playing time.

Daulton Varsho and Jesus Sanchez are solid options against right-handed pitching, meaning the last spot is between Lukes, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw. Even though Lukes has the platoon advantage against right-handers, there's no guarantee that manager John Schneider won't try to switch things up and give the righties some chances.

George Springer should be back from the injured list (fractured big toe), in short order as well. Barger is also working back and can reclaim his position in right field.

The Blue Jays and Brewers will finish out the series on Thursday afternoon at 1:40 p.m. ET. Left-hander Patrick Corbin will make his second start of the season while Brandon Sproat pitches for Milwaukee.

Sproat was acquired this offseason in a deal with the New York Mets.

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