Eric Lauer keeps winning, but where does he fit into Dodgers’ postseason pitching plans?
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Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer adjusted his cap and glanced into the stands as he walked off the field to a standing ovation.
In the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals, which completed a sweep at Dodger Stadium, Lauer held the Royals to two runs (one earned) in 6-1/3 innings.
“It was really nice,” Lauer said, noting how much more enjoyable it was to pitch well at Dodger Stadium for the home team, instead of the opposition. “It always makes you feel good walking off the mound and having people appreciate what you did out there.”
The Dodgers, with a short bullpen after playing extra innings twice in four games, needed Lauer to pitch deep into Wednesday’s game.
That plan seemed to be in jeopardy as he labored through the first three innings, his pitch count climbing to 64. But the next three, he gave up only one walk.
“Wasn’t getting a ton of swing out of zone,” Lauer said. “So mentally I just had to lock in a little bit more in-zone, make sure I was throwing quality pitches in-zone, and not try to be so fine. Give myself more plate to work with and try to get some quick, soft contact.”
By the time he exited with one out in the seventh, he’d thrown 112 pitches, the most he’d made in a game since September 2024 (114 in 6-2/3 innings against the New York Mets) and just three shy of his career high (8-2/3 innings against the Dodgers in 2018).
Mark Walter’s stunning sale of the Lakers immediately raised questions whether he would sell other teams, but sources say he is keeping the Dodgers.
“Eric’s a smart player, been around,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I say smart in the sense of understanding where our bullpen was at, and we had essentially everybody down. … It didn’t look great early as far as pitch efficiency, but he just recalibrated and kind of righted the ship, and it was really good.”
Right-hander Landon Knack finished the game and got his first save of the season.
Home runs from Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Hunter Feduccia provided all the offense the Dodgers needed to secure the victory.
Lauer, as a pitcher the Dodgers acquired in May to help them weather injuries, has pitched through uncertainty about his future with the team all season. He acknowledged as much as the trade deadline neared.
Still, he’s remained in the rotation, through the trade deadline and injury list activations, and steadied it in the process.
Lauer has given up three or fewer runs in all but one of his 11 outings for the Dodgers. And they have won all but one game he’s pitched, losing a clunker (four innings, six runs, 11 hits) against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field last week.
However, the rotation will continue to evolve down the stretch.
In the coming weeks, the Dodgers probably have to clear room for right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s return from a back injury. He’s set to make his third minor-league rehab start this week.
And Ohtani, who has been hitting but not pitching for more than a month, has progressed to long toss, although Roberts was not sure when he’ll move to throwing bullpen sessions.
The rotation steadily is evolving into its final playoff form. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been a steady presence at the top all season. Then they added left-hander Tarik Skubal before the trade deadline. And fellow two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell returned from the IL to throw six innings of one-run ball Tuesday.
The Dodgers still have rotation questions to answer come October. Though they probably will have only four starting spots to fill in the postseason — and Yamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Glasnow can be penciled in when healthy — Ohtani’s situation adds an interesting wrinkle.
Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman says he is sore basically everywhere, but appears to have escaped serious injury after falling into Royals dugout.
If he runs out of time to build up to a starter’s workload, would the Dodgers use him as an opener in the postseason? And if so, who would follow him?
And how do the rest of the starters — Roki Sasaki, who has put together an impressive last month, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, an All-Star who has gone through a recent rough patch, and Lauer, who turned around his season with a change in scenery — fit into their plans?
If Lauer eventually ends up as the odd man out in a roster crunch, he’s done plenty in 11 appearances with the Dodgers to prove he can be an asset to a contending team looking to reinforce its pitching staff. So, he’d draw attention from other teams on the waiver wire or as a free agent in the offseason.
But he’s appeared to be on the bubble before. And he’s still here, providing consistency every week.
Freeman exits
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman fell down the visiting dugout stairs while chasing a foul ball in the eighth inning. He remained in the game for the top of the eighth, but Tommy Edman hit for him in the bottom of the eighth and he was replaced in the ninth at first base by Kiké Hernández.
