Astros’ Eric Lauer Granted Release, Will Reportedly Pursue KBO Opportunity
The Astros released left-hander Eric Lauer, who’d been with their Triple-A club in Sugar Land, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. It seems that’ll pave the way for the former Brewers and Padres hurler to sign in the Korea Baseball Organization. Per KBO reporter Daniel Kim, Lauer will sign a deal with the Kia Tigers for the remainder of the 2024 campaign.
Lauer, 29, opened the season with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate after signing a minor league deal in spring training and joined Houston’s Triple-A club a couple months later after opting out of that deal with Pittsburgh. He’s had rough results on the whole in Triple-A this season, working to a combined 5.26 ERA between the two teams. However, he’s been on a good run as of late (2.86 ERA over his past five starts), has maintained respectable strikeout/walk rates throughout the ’24 season (25.3%, 9.1%), and of course has a big league track record of some note.
Selected by the Padres with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Lauer made his big league debut with San Diego in 2018 and spent two seasons pitching at the back of the Friars’ rotation. He logged a 4.40 ERA over 53 appearances (all but one of them as a starter) and looked well on his way to cementing himself as a serviceable back-end option. The Padres traded him to Milwaukee alongside Luis Urias in a trade shipping Trent Grisham and Zach Davies back to San Diego. Lauer made four ugly appearances during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, yielding 16 runs in 11 innings, but bounced back in a major way the following year.
Early in the 2021 season, Lauer added a slider to his repertoire and saw his results take off. He posted a 3.19 ERA and fanned 24% of his opponents in 118 2/3 innings that year, including a minuscule 2.41 ERA after incorporating his new breaking ball. The strong results continued into 2022, and Lauer wound up pitching to a combined 3.47 ERA in 277 1/3 frames across the two seasons, fanning 23.8% of his opponents against an 8.7% walk rate.
Lauer’s 2022 season was slowed by a shoulder issue, however, and he battled shoulder and elbow troubles the following year as well. The lefty saw his average fastball plummet from 93.3 mph in 2022 to 91.2 mph in 2023. In 46 2/3 big league frames, he was tattooed for a 6.56 ERA as his K/BB rates both went in the wrong direction. The Brewers sent him to Triple-A Nashville to try to get him right, but Lauer’s struggles continued, as he was knocked around for a 5.15 ERA there and did not return to the big leagues.
Lauer clearly hasn’t recaptured his 2021-22 form in Triple-A this season, but he’ll aim to do so down the stretch in the KBO with a Kia club that’s currently sporting the league’s best record at 60-41. It’s feasible that a big showing overseas could lead to interest from MLB clubs this winter, but it could also open the door for Lauer to re-sign with the Tigers for the 2025 campaign. He’d pitch all of next season at 30 years of age, and if he can either rebound to 2021-22 form or reinvent himself with some new offerings (a la Erick Fedde), an additional year in the KBO could catapult him back onto the big league radar.
Astros, Eric Lauer Agree To Minor League Deal
2:22pm: Lauer will be paid at a prorated $1.5MM base salary if he’s selected to the MLB roster, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. His deal also contains opt-out dates on July 1 and August 1 if he’s not on the big league roster prior to those points.
2:04pm: The Astros and Lauer are in agreement on a minor league contract, per Rome. The CAA client is headed to Triple-A Sugar Land for now, but given the state of the back of Houston’s rotation, he could emerge as an option before long if he looks sharp to begin his time in the organization.
1:40pm: The Astros are showing interest in free agent left-hander Eric Lauer, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The former Brewers and Padres southpaw opted out of a minor league contract with the Pirates last week. As Rome further points out, Houston GM Dana Brown worked in the Blue Jays’ scouting department when they drafted Lauer out of high school in 2013. Lauer wound up choosing to go to college, which paid off handsomely; the Jays tabbed him in the 17th round of the ’13 draft, but three years later the Padres selected him with the No. 25 overall pick.
The 28-year-old Lauer (29 in June) debuted with the Padres in 2018 and spent the next two seasons on San Diego’s staff before being traded to Milwaukee alongside infielder Luis Urias in exchange for righty Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham.
After three rather nondescript seasons in the majors from 2018-20, Lauer added a slider to his arsenal in early 2021 and looked to be breaking out as a high-end rotation option. He posted a 3.19 ERA and fanned 24% of his opponents in 118 2/3 innings that season (including a 2.41 ERA following the addition of that new breaking pitch). He continued his success into 2022 and wound up combining for 277 1/3 innings of 3.47 ERA ball with a 23.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate across those two seasons.
Shoulder and elbow injuries for Lauer popped up in 2022-23, and his health looked like a particular hindrance last season. Lauer’s average fastball plummeted from 93.3 mph in 2022 to 91.2 mph last season. In 46 2/3 innings, he was rocked for a 6.56 ERA with a diminished 20.4% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.4% walk rate. The Brewers optioned the southpaw to Triple-A in an effort to get him back on track, but Lauer was roughed up for a 5.15 ERA with their Nashville affiliate as well.
Lauer opened the 2024 season with the Pirates’ Triple-A club after signing a minor league deal late in the offseason. He pitched well for the bulk of hiss time there, although his ERA spiked from 3.95 to 5.52 after his final appearance, when he was tagged for six runs in just two innings of work. The left-hander’s 29.1% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate, however, looked far more like the 2021-22 version of Lauer than the 2023 version — an encouraging sign for the Astros or any other interested parties. It’s also worth noting that Lauer has 4.111 years of MLB service, meaning if he lands in Houston and is eventually added to the roster, he’d be controllable through 2025 via arbitration.
Houston could certainly use some rotation depth, so a pursuit of Lauer makes sense. Strong starting pitching has been a hallmark of the Astros in recent years, but the Houston rotation currently ranks 21st in the majors with 239 1/3 innings pitched and 26th with a 4.96 ERA. Astros starters have similarly uninspiring marks in FIP (4.61, ranking 28th), strikeout rate (21%, ranking 21st) and walk rate (11%, the second-highest in MLB).
Those struggles come in spite of a breakout performance from right-hander Ronel Blanco, who threw first no-hitter of the 2024 season earlier this year. The Astros have Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy on the injured list at the moment, and they’ve also seen Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier and Framber Valdez all spend time on the shelf.
Former top prospect Hunter Brown and fellow sophomore righty J.P. France have both had brutal starts to the season, and in-house reinforcements like Spencer Arrighetti and Blair Henley have both been hit hard. At the moment, the ‘Stros have a full complement of Verlander, Valdez, Javier and Blanco healthy in the first four spots of the rotation. That’s a boon in and of itself, but the club still has to keep trying to get at least one of Brown, France or Arrighetti on track — or else find a more palatable option from outside the organization. If a deal comes together, Lauer could eventually factor into the group before long, considering each of Brown, France, Arrighetti and Henley has an ERA of at least 7.16 on the season.
Eric Lauer Opts Out Of Pirates Deal
Left-hander Eric Lauer exercised an out clause in his minor league deal with thee Pirates and has been granted his release, tweets Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’s once again a free agent.
Lauer, 29 next month, pitched well for most of his time in Indianapolis, though his ERA ballooned from 3.95 to 5.52 after he was tagged for six runs through just two innings in his final appearance there. He’d signed a minor league contract back on March 7 after being non-tendered by the Brewers earlier in the offseason.
Though Lauer looked well on his way to a breakout with the Brew Crew in 2021 after adding a slider to his arsenal, his 2023 campaign was a disaster. From 2021-22, Lauer pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 277 1/3 innings, showing strong strikeout and walk rates along the way — particularly after incorporating that new breaking ball into his repertoire. However, last year saw the southpaw post a grisly 6.46 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. The Brewers optioned him to Triple-A Nashville in hopes of getting him right, but he served up a 5.15 ERA there as well.
Lauer incurred both shoulder and elbow injuries from 2022-23, so it’s certainly possible he wasn’t pitching at full strength during that miserable 2023 campaign. He lost more than two miles per hour off his heater last year, dropping from a 93.3 mph average in 2022 to just 91.2 mph before he was optioned.
While that ugly final outing in Indy skewed Lauer’s 2024 ERA, he fanned a sharp 29.1% of opponents in his brief stint with the Pirates organization, coupling that mark with a solid 8.7% walk rate. Even if he doesn’t get all the way back to his 2021-22 form, Lauer has a 4.30 earned run average in nearly 600 big league innings — a 4.11 mark if excluding last year’s tough showing. He also only has 4.111 years of big league service time, so if a team signs him and brings him to the majors at some point, he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration (or even through 2026, if his MLB promotion comes with 60 or fewer days remaining on the season’s calendar).
Pirates To Sign Eric Lauer To Minor League Deal
Left-hander Eric Lauer will be heading to the Pirates on a minor league deal, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The CAA Sports client will presumably be invited to major league camp.
Lauer, 29 in June, has been a viable big league starter at times in his career but is coming off a frustrating season. He opened the year in the Brewers’ rotation but struggled. He had a 5.48 earned run average through nine outings when he was placed on the injured list in late May due to an impingement in right, non-throwing shoulder. He was activated off the IL in mid-June but optioned to the minors.
Things didn’t go much better down on the farm as he posted a 6.39 ERA in 56 1/3 innings down there. He was recalled to the big league club for an outing in late September, after the Brewers had already clinched the division. But that turned into a nightmarish outing, as the lefty was tagged for eight earned runs in four innings. He revealed at that time that he had been battling shoulder and elbow issues throughout the year, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The Brewers could have retained him for 2024 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a salary of $5.2MM. But Milwaukee outrighted him off the roster in the middle of October, which was effectively an early non-tender.
The Bucs will be hoping that those health issues are behind him and he can return to his previous form. Over 2021 and 2022, Lauer tossed 277 1/3 innings for Milwaukee with a 3.47 ERA, striking out 23.8% of batters while giving out walks at an 8.7% clip. Lauer struggled in the shortened 2020 season but was also effective in the two seasons prior to that. With the Padres in 2018 and 2019, he posted a 4.40 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate.
Lauer’s never shown any kind of ace-level upside but he has a proven ability to be a back-of-the-rotation guy, which could be enough for him to be valuable to the Pirates. Their rotation is currently fronted by Mitch Keller but he is followed by a series of question marks.
Veterans Martín Pérez and Marco Gonzales were acquired this winter to serve as veteran stalwarts but each of them is coming off a frustrating campaign. Pérez struggled enough last year to get bumped out of the Rangers’ rotation and had some good results out of the bullpen but ultimately finished with a 4.98 ERA on the year as a starter. Gonzales required surgery for a nerve issue in his left forearm after logging just 50 innings over 10 starts.
There are two spots available at the back end, with guys like Jared Jones, Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Bailey Falter and Kyle Nicolas in the mix for those roles. Everyone in that group is either fairly limited in terms of experience or struggled badly last year or both. JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows could be options in the second half but both are currently recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Given the general rotation uncertainty behind Keller, and the inevitability of pitcher injuries, there should be an opportunity for Lauer if he can get back into his 2021-2022 form. He averaged around 93 miles per hour with his fastball over 2021 and 2022 but was down to 90.8 mph last year, perhaps lending some credence to the fact that he wasn’t fully healthy and providing an explanation for his poor performance.
If things work out especially well for Lauer this year, he could also be kept around for the 2025 season. His service time count is currently at four years and 111 days, meaning he would come up shy of six years even if he made the team out of camp and spent the whole season on the roster. He is out of options, however, so the Bucs would have to remove him from the 40-man entirely if they want him off the active roster at any point.
Lauer will have to earn a roster spot before any of that becomes a concern, of course, but it’s a good fit for both sides. Starting pitching is an obvious weakness for the Pirates and Lauer could find some runway to launch a bounceback campaign for himself.
Padres Have Shown Interest In Jarren Duran; Still Considering Free Agent Starters
The Padres have shown interest in Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. They’re not alone in that regard, per the report, which indicates that multiple clubs have reached out to the Boston front office to express interest. There’s no indication any sort of deal is nigh, but Dennis Lin of The Athletic similarly hears that the Sox and Padres have had “recent” trade discussions as part of the Friars’ ongoing search for outfield help. San Diego has also considered a reunion with outfielder Tommy Pham, per Lin, though he further notes that no formal offer has been made.
Duran, 27, would fill an acute need for the Padres, whose only established MLB outfielder at the moment is Fernando Tatis Jr. Beyond Tatis and Jose Azocar, San Diego doesn’t even have an outfielder on its 40-man roster. Non-roster invitees to spring training like Oscar Mercado, Bryce Johnson and Cal Mitchell are among the current options to vie for a roster spot in spring training, although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier in the week that the Padres have also been considering the idea of deploying top shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill in the outfield this season as well. Merrill, the team’s first-round pick in 2021 and the game’s No. 17 prospect according to Baseball America, would also need to be added to the 40-man roster.
Duran is a former top-100 prospect himself, though he just broke through with his first real major league success as a 26-year-old in 2023. The now-27-year-old former seventh-round pick appeared in 102 games for the Red Sox and batted .295/.346/.482 with eight home runs, 34 doubles, a pair of triples and a 24-for-26 showing in stolen base attempts. Duran also trimmed his formerly problematic strikeout rate to a more manageable 24.9%, although his 6.6% walk rate is two percentage points shy of league-average.
While Duran has elite speed — 95th percentile, per Statcast — his route running and lack of arm strength have led to well below-average grades in center field. Defensive Runs Saved is most bearish, pegging him at -19 in just shy of 1200 innings, while Ultimate Zone Rating has him at -10.5 and Outs Above Average has him at -2. Azocar is capable of handling center field, however, so an acquisition of Duran could lead to him slotting into left field in San Diego, where his glovework would grade more favorably.
There are fair questions about whether Duran can sustain last year’s production at the plate, however. Last year’s .381 average on balls in play may not regress all the way to league-average levels, as players with elite speed can turn grounders into hits at a far higher clip, but Duran’s penchant for chasing pitches off the plate (career 35.1%) and below-average contact rate on such offerings has a tendency to undercut his above-average contact skills on pitches within the zone (92.1%).
Boston’s appetite for dealing Duran remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that he was drafted back in 2018 and the Sox have now turned over their front office twice since making that selection. First-year chief baseball officer Craig Breslow doesn’t have the connection with Duran that predecessors Chaim Bloom and Dave Dombrowski may have. And while Duran is ticketed for a regular role with the Sox as the roster is currently constructed, Boston isn’t short on outfield alternatives.
Were Duran to be moved, the Sox could turn to Tyler O’Neill, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu from left field to right field, with designated hitter Masataka Yoshida also mixing into the corners on occasion. Roman Anthony, Boston’s second-round pick from the 2022 draft, has already climbed as high as Double-A and recently placed 21st on BA’s Top 100 prospect rankings, creating further depth.
The Padres don’t have that type of outfield depth, due in no small part to years of aggressive win-now trades that have combined to thin out the system. San Diego has also been working to scale back payroll, which would make a pre-arbitration player like Duran a natural target. He’ll very likely be arb-eligible next winter as a Super Two player, but he’d fit the team’s desire to manage payroll during the 2024 campaign. And with just 1.155 years of big league service under his belt, Duran could be controlled for five more seasons.
Lin further reports that while the outfield is the greater focus at the moment, San Diego is still exploring the free-agent market for rotation help. He lists Michael Lorenzen, old friend Eric Lauer, and Hyun Jin Ryu as pitchers with whom the San Diego front office has spoken. Heyman, too, lists Ryu as a potential target for the Padres.
Of the three, Lorenzen is coming off the best and healthiest season. An All-Star for the 2023 Tigers, Lorenzen was traded to the Phillies at last summer’s deadline and thrust himself into the spotlight with a pair of dominant performances to begin his Phillies tenure. The converted reliever began to fade after a masterful 124-pitch no-hitter against the Nationals in early August, however, and his struggles snowballed to the point that the Phils dropped him from the rotation to the bullpen. Lorenzen closed out the year with a dismal 27 earned runs in 30 1/3 innings following that no-hit gem.
Lauer, 28, is a former Padre who went from San Diego to Milwaukee alongside Luis Urias in the trade bringing Trent Grisham to the Friars. He looked to be on his way to a breakout in Milwaukee after adding a slider to his repertoire in 2021, and from ’21-’22 he posted a combined 3.47 ERA in 277 1/3 innings. The 2023 campaign was a disaster that saw Lauer torched for a 6.46 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. Milwaukee optioned him to Triple-A to try to get him back on track, but Lauer yielded a 5.15 earned run average in a near-identical sample of 43 2/3 innings there.
Elbow and shoulder injuries have both sent Lauer to the injured list over the past two seasons. It’s possible that he wasn’t at full strength in 2023, given that pair of IL trips and a major dip in his average fastball (93.3 mph in 2022; 91.2 mph in 2023). If Lauer is at full strength, he’d be a nice buy-low option — particularly since his 4.111 years of MLB service make him controllable through the 2025 season for any team that signs him.
As for Ryu, he pitched well in his return to the Blue Jays following Tommy John surgery. The ten-year MLB veteran notched a 3.46 ERA over 11 starts and 52 innings, though his performance wasn’t without its own reasons for hesitation. Ryu only pitched beyond the fifth inning once in 2023, and the Jays never let him reach even 90 pitches in an appearance. Last year’s 88.8 mph average fastball was a career-low mark, and his 17% strikeout rate was his third-lowest in ten MLB seasons. Ryu was quite homer-prone in 27 innings in 2022 before undergoing surgery, but he was even more susceptible to the long ball last year, yielding nine in his 52 innings (1.56 HR/9).
Lorenzen might still have enough track record and interest to generate a two-year offer in free agency, but it’s likely Ryu and certainly Lauer will be available on one-year pacts that check in under $10MM — well under in the case of Lauer, who’d been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $5.2MM salary before being non-tendered. San Diego’s current $159MM payroll and $215MM luxury tax projection (via Roster Resouce) should leave some room for additional spending, even as the team looks to cut spending. Last year’s Padres payroll climbed as high as $255MM.
Eric Lauer Elects Free Agency
Starting pitcher Eric Lauer has elected minor league free agency, according to the transaction log at MLB.com. That was the anticipated outcome when Milwaukee sent the left-hander outright from the 40-man roster last week.
Lauer pitched four seasons in Milwaukee. The Brewers acquired the former first-round draftee alongside Luis Urías in a 2019-20 offseason deal that sent Trent Grisham and Zach Davies to the Padres. He was a non-factor during the shortened season but rebounded with consecutive solid years in 2021 and ’22. Lauer combined for a 3.47 ERA with a slightly above-average 23.8% strikeout percentage in 277 1/3 innings over that stretch.
The 28-year-old didn’t replicate anything near that kind of production this past season. He struggled to a 5.48 ERA in his first nine outings. An impingement in his non-throwing shoulder sent him to the injured list in late May. While he returned within a few weeks, the Brewers had decided not to keep him on the big league staff. They optioned him to Triple-A upon his reinstatement from the IL.
Lauer started nine of 12 appearances at Triple-A Nashville, posting a 5.15 ERA in 43 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He punched out a strong 31.1% of minor league opponents while walking over 11% of batters faced. He didn’t get another MLB look until the final weekend, when the Brewers had already clinched the NL Central and were keeping their top starters in reserve for the playoffs. Lauer was tagged for eight runs on nine hits (including three homers) in four innings against the Cubs in what turned out to be his final start with Milwaukee.
The Kent State product has between four and five years of major league service. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a $5.2MM arbitration salary, which no team was prepared to offer. Now that he’s a free agent, Lauer will at least draw minor league interest and may well find a low-cost MLB deal.
He’s only a season removed from looking like a viable #3/4 starter, although this year’s rough production came in tandem with a drop in velocity. His four-seam fastball averaged 90.8 MPH during his major league work, more than two ticks below last summer’s 93.3 MPH average. He lost three MPH on both his cutter and curveball. As the season was winding down, Lauer told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he’d battled inflammation in his throwing elbow and shoulder in addition to the right shoulder injury, contributing to the Brewers keeping him out of minor league action between June 12 and July 28.
Brewers Outright Eric Lauer
Left-hander Eric Lauer has passed through waivers unclaimed and been outrighted by the Brewers to Triple-A Nashville, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Lauer has more than three years of service time, which gives him the right to reject this outright and elect free agency.
Lauer, now 28, once seemed like a solid part of the pitching staff in Milwaukee. Over 2021 and 2022, he tossed 277 1/3 innings for the Brewers with a 3.47 earned run average. He stuck out 23.8% of batters faced in that time while issuing walks at a 8.7% clip.
He and the club agreed to an arbitration salary of $5.075MM for 2023 and he opened the year in the club’s rotation. Unfortunately, he struggled to get on track this year, posting a 5.48 ERA through his first nine appearances. He landed on the injured list in late May due to an impingement in his non-throwing shoulder and the club optioned him to the minors once he was healthy enough to be activated. His 5.04 ERA in the minors this year wasn’t much better but he got recalled at the end of September to make an appearance after the club had already clinched the division. He allowed eight earned runs in four innings, ballooning his ERA for the season to 6.56.
Lauer could have been retained for 2024 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a slight raise to a salary of $5.2MM next year. But after his poor results in 2023 and the fact that he’ll be out of options next year, it seems the Brewers weren’t willing to have him back at that price point.
Assuming Lauer elects free agency, he will head to the open market and be free to pursue contracts will all 30 clubs. His frustrating 2023 season will obviously hurt him but he can point to his strong results in the two previous campaigns as he looks for his next gig.
NL Central Notes: Keller, Cubs, Lauer
The Pirates and right-hander Mitch Keller have previously discussed a contract extension as recently as this spring, and while no deal got done back then, it appears those talks could continue with the offseason on the horizon. As relayed by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Keller recently spoke openly about his desire to hammer out a long-term deal with the Pirates. “Hopefully this offseason we can get something going with extension talks,” Keller said. “I would love to be part of it and be here for however many years. I think we have a really good window here to really do something special.”
It’s easy to see why the Pirates would have interest in locking up Keller, as the 27-year-old righty has proven to be a steadying presence in the club’s starting rotation over the past two seasons, with a 4.08 ERA and 3.83 FIP across 353 1/3 innings of work with a 23% strikeout rate. A first-time All Star in 2023, Keller posted a 3.31 ERA and 3.32 FIP while striking out 26.7% of batters faced in the first half. While the wheels came off for Keller when he allowed a 5.59 ERA over his final 13 starts of the season, the talent he flashed in the first half is that of a mid-rotation arm or better. That’s a particularly valuable commodity for a Pirates team that sports a core dominated by hitters like Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, and Endy Rodriguez.
More from around the NL Central…
- Pittsburgh’s loss to the Marlins this evening officially eliminated the Cubs from postseason contention, and plenty of criticism from fans and media has been levied toward club manager David Ross as the club’s playoff odds steadily sunk from a high-water mark of 92% in early September. Despite that outside criticism, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently stood by his manager, telling reporters (including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune) that “People are going to ask you about your bad decisions 100 times more than they’re going to ask about your good decisions. That is the job… I’m looking at ‘What can you do better and keep learning?’” With Hoyer defending his manager, it seems likely that Ross will return for the 2024 campaign, which is the final guaranteed season of his contract. The Cubs hold a club option on his services for the 2025 season.
- Brewers left-hander Eric Lauer returned to the club today more than three months after being optioned to the minors back in June. As noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lauer was shut down for much of the summer due to issues in both of his shoulders and his left elbow. Lauer returned to the big leagues for a start against the Cubs this evening, but the lefty allowed eight runs on nine hits and four walks in four innings of work, ballooning his season ERA to 6.56 across ten appearances (nine starts). Between Lauer’s struggles and increasing price in arbitration, Hogg notes that it “seems unlikely” Lauer will return to Milwaukee in 2024. If today marks the end of Lauer’s time with the Brewers, he’ll depart with a career 4.05 ERA (102 ERA+) in 331 innings since being acquired from the Padres alongside Luis Urias in exchange for Trent Grisham and Zach Davies.
Brewers Option Eric Lauer To Triple-A
The Brewers activated Eric Lauer from the 15-day injured list yesterday, but optioned the left-hander to Triple-A Nashville rather than return him to the Major League roster. Between injury and inconsistency, Lauer’s 2023 season has been a rough ride, and Brewers GM Matt Arnold told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) the team felt the Triple-A move was necessary since “we want to get him right, to be healthy and be a contributor.”
Lauer has been out of action since May 22 due to an impingement in his right shoulder. Though his throwing arm remained fine, Lauer told MLB.com and other reporters that his right shoulder problem still impacted his delivery, which could explain his shaky results this season. Over 42 2/3 innings, Lauer had only a 5.48 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, and 10.7% walk rate, as well as high hard-contact rates. The southpaw’s 13.5% barrel rate ranks near the bottom of the league, and all of these barrels have resulted in Lauer’s career-worst 20.6% home run rate.
Not a particularly hard thrower to begin with, Lauer had a big velocity drop, going from a 93.4mph average fastball in 2022 to a 90.9mph heater this season. However, he said that recent bullpen sessions have brought some velo back, adding roughly 3-5mph to his fastball. The results haven’t been there for Lauer over a pair of minor league rehab starts, but he’ll now get a fuller stretch in Nashville to get himself more fully back on track.
Lauer pitched well for Milwaukee over the last two seasons, moving into the rotation on a full-time basis in 2021 and delivering a 3.47 ERA over 277 1/3 innings in 2021-22. His quality results and flexibility to work as a swingman if needed has been a valuable part of the Brew Crew’s pitching depth, yet that depth has been pretty severely tested this season by a number of injuries. Fortunately for the Brewers, Wade Miley is projected to return from the IL this weekend, perhaps giving the team a bit of breathing room to send Lauer to Triple-A.
Heading into the 2023 season, Lauer has four full seasons and 33 days (or, 4.033) of Major League service time. That total has now increased to 4.110 since Opening Day, so unless Lauer’s stint in Triple-A lasts quite a bit longer than expected, he shouldn’t be in jeopardy of not amassing the six full years of MLB service time required for free agency. Lauer is currently slated to hit the open market following the 2024 season.
Brewers Notes: Urias, Adames, Woodruff, Lauer, Bush
MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy relayed a series of significant updates regarding injured Brewers players this morning. Most encouragingly, the Brewers expect to welcome both infielder Luis Urias and shortstop Willy Adames back from the injured list this week.
Urias, who suffered a hamstring strain on Opening Day and hasn’t played since, is expected to rejoin the club on Tuesday as they begin a homestand against the Orioles. Acquired in the trade that sent Trent Grisham to San Diego prior to the 2020 season, Urias has been a key piece of the club’s infield picture for several seasons now, particularly since his offensive breakout in 2021. Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Urias has slashed a solid .243/.339/.424 (111 wRC+) with a 20.6% strikeout rate and a 10.8% walk rate in 1,046 trips to the plate.
Adames, meanwhile, has been on the 7-day concussion IL since getting struck with a foul ball in the dugout last week. McCalvy notes that the current plan is for Adames to play DH for High-A Wisconsin today before moving on to Triple-A Nashville. After two games in Nashville, Adames figures to be activated from the injured list on Thursday.
After the Brewers acquired Adames partway through the 2021 season, the then-25-year-old shortstop raked for the club in 99 games for the rest of the season, with a .285/.366/.521 slash line that was 36% better than league average by measure of wRC+. Adames followed up that performance in 2022 with a solid 109 wRC+ in 139 games, but struggled prior to his placement on the IL this season, slashing a below-average .205/.292/.384 in 51 games.
Still, the Brewers figure to be bolstered significantly by the return of their two most reliable infielders. Andruw Monasterio, Owen Miller, and Brian Anderson have all produced solid results in the infield while Urias and Adames have been on the shelf. Assuming the Brewers look to keep all three of them on the active roster even after the duo returns this week, it’s possible the club will look toward the likes of Brice Turang, Mike Brosseau, and Abraham Toro when clearing space for Adames and Urias on the active roster. Each of those three infielders (as well as both Monasterio and Miller) are optionable, leaving Milwaukee with plenty of options as they look to make roster decisions in the coming days.
While the updates on Adames and Urias are encouraging, the same unfortunately cannot be said regarding ace right-hander Brandon Woodruff. The 30-year-old righty made just two starts this season before going on the injured list with a subscapular strain in his right shoulder, which came with an initial timeline that figured to see him return later this month. McCalvy notes that Woodruff’s timetable for return has been pushed back, however, as the righty has yet to progress to throwing off a mound, leaving the Brewers to target a return around the All Star break for their ace.
The setback for Woodruff is a tough blow to the Brewers, who have since lost Wade Miley and Eric Lauer from their rotation to injuries (in addition to Aaron Ashby, who has yet to pitch this season after undergoing shoulder surgery). What’s more, Woodruff’s co-ace Corbin Burnes has had a somewhat pedestrian season to this point by his lofty standards, posting a 3.75 ERA (113 ERA+) and a 4.59 FIP across twelve starts while striking out 22.8% of batters faced.
Speaking of Lauer, the left-hander and reliever Matt Bush are both expected to head to Triple-A for rehab assignments on Tuesday. Lauer struggled mightily in nine appearances (eight starts) this season prior to going on the IL due to an impingement in his non-throwing shoulder, with a 5.48 ERA and a 6.73 FIP in 42 2/3 innings of work. Bush also struggled in nine games prior to hitting the IL with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff allowing seven runs on four homers and six walks in just 7 2/3 innings of work.