He's no 'stick-in-the-mud': Lauer has power as Toronto's great counterweight

TAMPA -- We tend to talk about Eric Lauer in the abstract, always attached to some other player or some other idea. He’s become the Blue Jays’ great counterweight.

The rotation gets healthy in 2025? Lauer to the bullpen. Sign Cody Ponce in the offseason? Lauer to the bullpen. Trey Yesavage’s workload will be managed early in ‘26? Lauer to the piggyback role.

He’s handled this admirably, toeing the line between saying all of the right things as a teammate while still making it clear that he’d prefer to be starting. In some ways, it’s unfair that Lauer still has to be making this case for himself, fresh off a 3.18 ERA in 2025, when he stepped in and saved the Blue Jays’ rotation from what could have been an ugly dive into limited depth. The Blue Jays are a World Series contender spilling over with big league starters, though, so it’s Lauer who continues to be the moving piece.

"I know what I want to do and I know where I think I help the team best, but sometimes other things come into play,” Lauer said. “For me, it’s more about getting to know the guys, embracing them and having that same camaraderie we had last year as a staff. Then, we run with that. Wherever I go into a game, I’m still throwing a pitch.”

This situation needs the right people. One bitter veteran and it could all go awry. One rookie with an inflated ego and the harmony of this pitching staff could be thrown off. If anyone has a reason to groan and complain, it might just be Lauer, but each time he reiterates that he wants to start, he also makes a point of acknowledging the other side of this.

Remember, he’s the great counterweight. Chris Bassitt is gone, while Dylan Cease and Ponce have joined the rotation, but Lauer still fits in the same spots around them.

"It’s just going to be harder to control [Max] Scherzer. Bassitt really kept him under wraps a little bit,” Lauer joked. “But I love having Scherzer around. Ponce is a great fit. Cease fits in great. It’s a very easy rotation -- or staff, or whatever you want to call it -- to mix into. [Kevin] Gausman is a great guy. José [Berríos] is a great guy and Trey’s great. There’s no stick-in-the-mud on this team.”

So far, spring hasn’t been the kindest to Lauer. He allowed four runs over 3 1/3 innings in Wednesday's 8-1 loss to the Yankees, but like most “starters” in spring, he was working on things, intentionally pumping more changeups and curveballs to work on his game. Later, he smiled and called it “just stupid” to throw the curve that Giancarlo Stanton launched out to left field, but with the security of a roster spot he can spend spring working on weaknesses, not showing off strengths to impress a new team.

“It’s definitely more of a mindset of, ‘What do I want to work on today?’,” Lauer said, “rather than going out to get results and show them that I’m good. I think we’ve all proven at this point that we’re pretty good, especially after last year.”

Wednesday, his pitch count reached 60. One more of these and he should be up to 70-plus, a “starter’s spring” before he’s likely asked to dial it back for the regular season.

One way or another, there could be 100 innings waiting for Lauer in 2026. Those innings are going to matter, and given the realities of a long big league season, it’s likely that he’ll make some starts along the way.

Let’s start with what Lauer does well, and none of this is complicated. He spots his fastball, which even sitting near 92 mph produced great results in 2025, and he avoids walks. That’s a ticket to steady, consistent innings, which is all the Blue Jays are asking from Lauer. Some days, he’ll be asked to keep a game close through the fifth and sixth innings. Others, he’ll be asked to hold a lead through the eighth and ninth to save Jeff Hoffman and Louis Varland.

It’s all important. This is the American League East, which was only decided by a tiebreaker last season between the 94-win Blue Jays and 94-win Yankees. This year, it should be even more crowded at the top.

Lauer isn’t where he wants to be right now, but he’s right where the Blue Jays want him to be, which is on this roster.

These things have a way of working themselves out, especially when you’re not a stick-in-the-mud.