Lukes has not played since April 24, when he sustained a hamstring injury. He had previously been one of Toronto’s hottest hitters with 11 hits in his final 21 at-bats after working through a case of vertigo.
The 31-year-old owns a .250/.286/.327 slash line through 20 games to go with eight RBIs. He slashed .255/.323/.407 with 12 homers and 65 RBIs in 135 games last season.
Schneider, meanwhile, has struggled at the dish through the first two months, hitting just .127 while collecting more walks (17) than hits (nine). He has one home run and eight RBIs.
The right-handed-hitting Schneider’s demotion means left-hander Yohendrick Piñango will remain on the MLB roster despite fellow lefty Lukes’s return.
Piñango, 24, has impressed in his rookie season as the Blue Jays struggle for offence, hitting .313 with a .352 on-base percentage, one home run and 10 RBIs in 23 games.
The Blue Jays, whose four-game win streak ended Sunday, return to action Monday as they open a three-game series at home against the Miami Marlins (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT).
