2023 Athletics Season in Review: Easton Lucas
New lefty to the A’s made his debut last year
A Pepperdine product, Easton Lucas began his pro career getting drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 14th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He was a starter before Covid killed the 2020 season, and he came back the next season exclusively as a reliever. He started last year at Double-A but would ultimately get to the big leagues for six games.
How acquired?
Oakland brought Lucas into the fold when the team traded Shintaro Fujiname to the Baltimore Orioles. It was a 1-for-1 swap that was a low-risk move for both sides. Oakland gets a reliever prospect under control in exchange for a few months of Fuji.
What were the expectations?
The left-handed Erceg has six seasons of team control still and lefty relievers are important. The hopes were and remain that Erceg can grow into at least a solid left-handed reliever for a club hoping to turn things around sooner rather than later.
2023 results
Things started out awesome for Lucas as he dominated at Double-A, leading to a promotion. Things didn’t go nearly as smoothly at Triple-A where he pitched to a 4.61 ERA for Baltimore’s Triple-A team. Then the trade happened in mid-July bringing him to Oakland. It was a harder time for the Aviators as he posted a 5.63 mark. Still, with the season all but over the A’s brought up Lucas for his MLB debut. He gave up runs in half his appearances and got blasted for four runs in one outing. Not the best debut in the world.
On the bright side of things Lucas got his big-league debut out of the way and should theoretically be a little calmer next time he takes a major league mound. After the season he was outrighted off the Oakland 40-man roster, so he’ll need to be readded if and when he returns to the A’s.
2024 Outlook
The club currently only has two left-handed relievers on the big league roster so there isn’t too much of a hill for him to climb. Heck, a great spring and Lucas could even break camp with the club. He’ll need to show improvement last year after struggling against the top two levels of professional baseball but Oakland can afford to be patient with Lucas and see what they have in him.