Blue Jays’ Easton Lucas is cleared and expected to sign overseas

The Blue Jays announced Tuesday that they have been drafted left-handed Easton Lucas on unconditional release waivers. That reduces the number of players from 40 to 37. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that Lucas will sign with a foreign team once he clears waivers (presumably in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball or in the Korea Baseball Organization).

Lucas, 29, played in six games (five starts) for Toronto last season. He became a cult hero in April when he completed 10 1/3 shutout innings in two starts to begin his Jays tenure — including a game at Fenway Park where he outlasted eventual Cy Young runner-up. Garrett hook. However, the good times did not last. Lucas gave up eight runs in his next start and ultimately gave up a total of 18 runs in 14 innings after that scoreless stretch.

This was the third season in which Lucas logged some time in the big league, although his 24 1/3 frames this year were a career high. He pitched 42 2/3 innings in the Majors and was tagged for an earned run average of 8.02. Lucas has fanned a below-average 19.6% of opponents against an inflated 12.3% walk rate in his limited MLB exposure.

Triple-A has been a completely different story. Lucas has spent parts of three seasons at the highest minor league level, pitching 162 2/3 innings to a solid 3.60 ERA. He has knocked out 24.4% of his opponents and registered a more palatable (but still higher than average) walk rate of 10%. Lucas sits at 90-90 mph with his four-pitch and rounds out his four-pitch arsenal with a changer, slider and a more rarely used cutter.