Eric Lauer surprisingly established himself as a valuable member of the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation after he was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Amid some pitching injuries, Lauer got a chance to prove his worth to the organization, making eight starts prior to the trade deadline and pitching behind an opener once. In those nine games, the team went 9-0, and Lauer had a 2.96 ERA.
However, trade rumors grew as Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow took steps toward returning to the big leagues. With Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Justin Wrobleski also in the rotation, Lauer's spot was in danger, making him a trade candidate. Lauer spoke about trade possibilities with Andrew Friedman before the deadline.
“They had been pretty open with me communication-wise about what they were thinking, what I was thinking,” Lauer said. “I expressed to them that I wanted to be a Dodger. So, I think they took that to heart."
Even though he was not traded, his spot in the rotation is not safe. The Dodgers acquired Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, and Snell is close to returning. That would give the Dodgers a rotation of Snell, Skubal, Yamamoto, Sasaki, Ohtani and Wrobleski.
Lauer could stay in the mix while Ohtani is not pitching, or until Glasnow is back, but in reality his tie in the rotation is limited. He could go into the bullpen in a long relief role, as he has been successful this year. His last start was not great, but overall, he has pitched well enough to have a role on the team even when all the preferred starters are back.