Lauer's shot at a role in the Blue Jays' rotation takes a hit after latest outing

The starting rotation picture is getting crowded in Dunedin. At the Spring Training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, there are more than a handful of pitchers competing for only a handful of spots come Opening Day. Eric Lauer is hoping to be one of the players who is in the starting five when the season begins on March 27, but his latest outing may come back to bite him in that bid.

Lauer's shot at a role in the Blue Jays rotation takes a hit after latest outing

Facing a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that featured some prominent MLB hitters, Lauer struggled through the outing, giving up three earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched. In the first inning, Lauer allowed the first four hitters to reach base, while he didn't record an out until the fifth hitter, Cedric Mullins, hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in the Rays' third run of the inning.

After a leadoff single to Yandy Diaz, he allowed a 108 mph single to Jonathan Aranda, and on the next pitch he hit Jake Freely. Junior Caminero than torched a 114 mph four-seam fastball up the middle that cashed the first two runs.

After the sacrifice fly he got the next two hitters, Chandler Simpson and Ben Williamson, to fly out to end the inning. In the second, Richie Palacios led off by grounding out on the first pitch and then Lauer struck out Hunter Feduccia on six pitches. The last one was called a ball, but Blue Jays catcher CJ Stubbs challenged the pitch which was overturned. That was Lauer's 32nd and final pitch of the outing as he was replaced by Blue Jays pitching prospect Conor Larkin.

Lauer has been vocal already during Spring Training about his desire to be a starter. In 15 starts last year, Lauer pitched to a 3.77 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched and a 1.25 WHIP. He has also been a starter for the majority of his career prior to coming to Toronto. In six seasons with the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers, Lauer pitched in 120 games with 112 of those being starts.

However, as mentioned, the Blue Jays rotation is completely crowded right now. Dylan Cease and Kevin Gausman are locks to be in the starting five, leaving Trey Yesavage, José Berrios, Lauer and Cody Ponce fighting for three spots. Meantime, Max Scherzer was just re-signed by the Blue Jays earlier this week and will also attempt to make the roster at some point and Shane Bieber is working his way back from his elbow fatigue issue.

The Blue Jays may simply look at Lauer's results out of the bullpen from last season and ask him to focus on trying to replicate that in an effort to help the team win in 2026. As a reliever, Lauer had a 1.76 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched with 28 strikeouts. Hitters managed just a .144 batting average against, .212 OBP, and .187 BABIP during those appearances.

As manager John Schneider stated earlier in camp, things always happen that you can't predict and it feels like the rotation will resolve itself by Opening Day. An outing like this one from Lauer could make some of those decisions a little bit easier.