The Los Angeles Dodgers are averaging 5.19 runs per game, the third-best mark in the big leagues.
However, their offense seems to be better with Eric Lauer on the mound. In the eight games Lauer has pitched, the team has scored 65 runs. That means they are averaging 8.1 runs per game when Lauer pitches. He has started seven of those games, and in the one game he did not, he gave them six innings behind an opener. Funny enough, that bulk outing was the Dodgers' lowest run output with him pitching, scoring just two runs against the Minnesota Twins.
When their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts, the Dodgers average 5.05 runs per game, which is lower than their season average.
"There’s something to it,” Dave Roberts said to The Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett after the Dodgers' Wednesday win. “It’s hard to kind of understand it. It changes every year. But I do think that he’s a guy that just makes everybody relaxed. We somehow show out offensively when he’s pitching. I don’t know the science behind it.”
Lauer has been in the big leagues since 2018. His best years came with the Milwaukee Brewers when he was part of a rotation that featured himself, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff. His current stint in Los Angeles is yielding similar results to his time in Milwaukee.
He was solid in a swingman role for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, and he seems to be having a positive impact in Los Angeles. The Dodgers will have a decision to make when Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow are back. Lauer has made a strong case to remain in the rotation.