Eric Lauer

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Eric Lance Lauer

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Biographical Information[edit]

Eric Lauer was the 25th overall pick of the 2016 amateur draft, by the San Diego Padres out of Kent State University. He was the second player selected in Compensation Round A, and the Padres' third first-rounder that year, following Cal Quantrill (#8) and Hudson Potts (#24). His pick was compensation for the loss of Ian Kennedy via free agency. He was the first player from the first round to reach the majors when he made his major league debut with the Padres on April 24, 2018, having only been preceded by third-rounder Austin Hays.

In his rookie season, Lauer went 6-7, 4.34 in 23 starts, logging 112 innings. He followed that up by going 8-10, 4.45 in 30 games in 2019. His 149 2/3 innings were second on the Padres' staff, only behind Joey Lucchesi, and his 138 strikeouts placed him third, after Lucchesi and rookie Chris Paddack. It was a very young starting rotation, composed entirely of first and second-year players, and the young pitchers' inability to pitch deep into games was a recurrent problem. Lauer was a prime culprit, as he had a tendency to use a lot of pitches, leading to a lot of early departures from games in which he had otherwise pitched well. Following the season, the Padres decided to add a veteran starter to help out the kids, and in order to do so, sent Lauer to the Milwaukee Brewers alongside young infielder Luis Urias in return for P Zach Davies and another youngster, OF Trent Grisham.

2020 was basically a lost season for him as he made just 4 appearances for the Brewers during the pandemic-shortened season, pitching 11 innings and going 0-2, 13.09. He bounced back nicely in 2021, with a 7-5 record and a solid 3.19 ERA in 24 games, including 20 starts. He struck out 117 batters in 118 2/3 innings and got to pitch in the postseason for the first time, starting Game 4 of the Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on October 12th. He lasted 3 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and a hit batsman, but did not figure in the decision as Milwaukee lost the game, 5-4. In 2022, he was considered the team's fifth starter heading into the season, but got off to a great start, going 3-0, 1.82 in his first 5 starts while striking out 42 batters in 29 2/3 innings. He finished the season at 11-7, 3.69, making 29 starts and pitching 158 2/3 innings during which he struck out 157 opponents. He set personal bests for wins, starts, innings and strikeouts that year. However, he fell down a steep hill in 2023 as he managed just 4-6 record coupled with an ERA of 6.56 in 10 games. He finished the season pitching in the minors, going 3-4, 5.15 in 12 games for the Nashville Sounds.

Lauer was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2024 season but failed to make the team and ended up with the AAA Indianapolis Indians. He went -2, 5.52 in 8 games and was released on May 16th. He was given a look by the Houston Astros, but again this was only in the minors, with the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, where he went 2-3, 5.09 in 12 games. He was released again on August 1st and finished the season pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization. With the Kia Tigers, he was 2-2, 4.93 in 7 games. As a result of his struggles the past two seasons, his being signed to a minor league contract by the Toronto Blue Jays before spring training in 2025 went completely under the radar, but he pitched well in Grapefruit League games, and after making 5 starts with the AAA Buffalo Bisons, where he was 1-3, 4.50, he was called up to help out the parent club. Expectations were still low at this point, but he turned out to be a godsend, pitching well in every situation in which he was used, be it as a starter, a long reliever, or occasionally as a lefty short reliever. He went 9-2, 3.18 in 28 games, including 15 starts and recorded 102 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings. Those were a lot of excellent innings for a team that was at various time struggling to find enough healthy pitchers to put together a healthy starting rotation. When the postseason came around, the Blue Jays decided to go with an opener in Game 4 of the Division Series against the New York Yankees instead of him, a decision that could have costed them dearly, but a group of relievers somehow managed to hold things together enough to move on to the next round. Lauer was excellent whenever he was called in out of the bullpen in the next two series, however. That included an epic turn on the mound in Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 27th, when he pitched 4 2/3 very tense scoreless innings of relief, starting in the 12th, in a game that was not decided until the bottom of the 18th inning.

Following his great contributions in 2025, Lauer was counted upon to be a key member of the pitching staff in 2026, although in which role was not clear. With a number of the anticipated starters unavailable for the start of the season due to injuries, including José Berríos, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber, he started the third game of the season on March 29th and defeated The Athletics, 5-2, to complete a season-opening sweep. It would turn out to be his only highlight for Toronto that year. He was ill when he took the mound for his second start against the Chicago White Sox on April 5th and had to leave after 2 innings, being charged with a 3-0 loss, and after suffering his third loss of the season on April 17th, he criticized Jays' management for having used an opener ahead of him in the game. He may have right - the Jays' recent record of using openers certainly did not point to the strategy being effective - but this was perceived as insubordination and he got a rare public reprimand from manager John Schneider. He made four more appearances after that and failed to win any of them. In what turned out to be his final game as a Blue Jay, on May 10th, he gave up six runs in five innings to the Los Angeles Angels after two openers had handed him a 1-0 lead after 4 innings. He immediately coughed up four runs in the 5th and the home town fans at the Rogers Centre booed him at the end of the 6-1 loss, which made his record 1-5, 6.69 in 8 games. The Blue Jays had him designated for assignment the next day, and on May 17th sold his contract to the Los Angeles Dodgers, whose pitching staff was riddled with injuries at that point.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Sonja Chen: "Dodgers give life to injury-riddled starting corps, acquire lefty Lauer", mlb.com, May 17, 2026. [1]
  • Martín Gallegos: "Extra effort: Lauer gives Blue Jays all he has in marathon Game 3", mlb.com, October 28, 2025. [2]

Related Sites[edit]

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