The Toronto Blue Jays have had to make some tough decisions over the past few months, and as they continue their quest for an American League East division win, those decisions will become even tougher as they head into the postseason.
One of the difficult decisions was dropping Eric Lauer from the starting rotation on September 1 after he gave up 10 earned runs in just 12.2 innings in his final three August starts.
Now, after giving up 3 earned runs in 4 innings in two bullpen appearances, Lauer is likely to be left off of the Blue Jays‘ postseason roster altogether, according to FanSided’s Chris Landers.
“This one just comes down to a numbers game,” Landers wrote in a September 10 story. Something has to give in Toronto’s rotation: The addition of Shane Bieber alongside Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Max Scherzer will leave somebody out in the cold come October. And it’s hard not to think that someone might be Lauer, whom the team demoted once Bieber broke in late last month.
“It doesn’t help that the cracks have started to show for the veteran lefty in recent weeks, with an ugly 5.57 ERA since the start of August. Maybe Toronto will want to keep him around in a long relief role, but they have multiple lefties to keep in the ‘pen as is, and Berrios or Scherzer figure to be above him the pecking order,” he wrote.
Eric Lauer Has Played His Way Out of the Playoff Roster?
In his last outing, which surprisingly came on Sept. 2, not throwing a pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays since, Lauer was brutal. He allowed two earned runs on five hits in just 2.1 innings against the Cincinnati Reds.
He also had some tough outings prior to that, allowing six runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings against the Minnesota Twins at the end of August.
Not pitching since his last outing, the writing could be on the wall.
However, when Schneider spoke with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com after that decision to put him in the bullpen, he noted that everybody is deserving to be on the staff, but the Blue Jays‘ focus is winning games right now and players understood that.
“Everyone is deserving to be in this rotation, and everyone is deserving to pitch,” Schneider said, according to Matheson’s August 20 story. “The biggest thing is that we’ve had multiple conversations with all of them and they all land in the same spot, which is, ‘We just want to win.’ Good teams have tough conversations sometimes, and this is definitely one of them. But they all understand how flexible they have to be.”
Eric Lauer Understands Blue Jays’ Decision
Fortunately for the Toronto Blue Jays, Lauer didn’t sound too upset about being moved to the bullpen.
He understands that not only is this a business, but that the Blue Jays have to do whatever it takes to win games. Hopefully, if he doesn’t make the postseason roster, he’ll have similar feelings.
“I’m still treating it as a start because I’m available for length, kind of like I was before. It’s the same deal,” Lauer said, according to Matheson. “Then, I believe, next time through I should be back in the rotation. I believe that’s the plan. Keep length and stay with that, but it just works out to where we land on the same day.
Blue Jays Predicted to Keep Pitcher With 3.32 ERA Off Postseason Roster