The Season That Was: Eric Lauer

The Jays signed Eric Lauer as a minor league free agent on December 20th of last year. It was such a momentous signing that we didn’t even have a post about it. He spent a month with the Bisons (5 starts, 4.50 ERA) and then, April 30th, the Jays called him up.

He had been a Jays draft choice in 2013, in the 17th round, but he didn’t sign. Three years later he was draft (and signed) by the Padres in the first round (25th overall).

He made it to the Padres in 2018, going 6-7 in 23 starts with a 4.34 ERA. The next season he made 29 starts (and one relief appearance, going 8-10 with a 4.45 ERA. After the season, he was traded to the Brewers for Zach Davies and Trent Grisham.

He was with the Brewers for four seasons (two pretty good ones, two not so good ones). In 2024 he pitched in the minor leagues for the Astros and Pirates, and then in the Korean League.

Age

WAR

W

L

ERA

G

GS

GF

CG

SV

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

IBB

SO

HBP

BK

WP

ERA+

FIP

BB9

SO9

30

2.2

9

2

3.18

28

15

2

0

0

104.2

90

39

37

15

26

1

102

2

0

0

134

3.85

2.2

8.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 11/24/2025.

Baseball Reference had him at a 2.2 WAR. FanGraphs 1.4, giving him a value of $11.0 million to the Jays.

Eric had a 3.85 FIP and 4.15 xFIP.

He had a .267 BABIP (career .290). 81.4% of the baserunners he allowed were stranded (career 75.0%).

Batters had a 20.5% line drive rate (career 23.2) against Lauer. His ground ball rate was 29.4% (career 34.6). And the flyball rate was 50.2% (career 42.2). 10.2% of his fly balls left the park (career 13.0%).

His strikeout rate was 23.9% (career 22.3), while his walk rate was 6.1% (career 8.5).

Eric’s soft contact rate was 13.5% (career 15.3). Hard contact 32.8% (37.6 career).

He was slightly better vs LHB (.234/.269/.379) than RHB (.224/.281/.419).

Lauer was better at home (batters hit .182/.229/.358) than on the road (.257/.310/.439), though his ERA was worse at home (3.30) than on the road (3.10) which is weird.

Eric was better in the first half of the season (2.78 ERA, batters hit 204/.269/.363), than the second half (3.62 ERA, batters hit .251/.286/.451).

Lauer by month:

• April: 1 relief appearance, 0-0, 4.50 ERA. In 4.0 innings, batters hit .214/.353/.286.

• May: 2 starts, 4 relief, 1-1, 2.30 ERA. In 15.2 innings, batters hit .182/.250/.436.

• June: 4 starts, 2 relief, 3-0, 2.49 ERA. In 25.1 innings, batters hit .221/.282/.368.

• July: 5 starts, 2-1, 2.79 ERA. In 29 innings, batters hit .181/.202/.305.

• August: 4 starts, 2-0, 5.30 ERA. In 18.2 innings, batters hit .333/.393/.630.

• September: 7 relief appearances, 1-0, 3.00. In 12 innings, batters hit .217/.234/.326.

The Jays were 12-3 in his starts. The team averaged 6.75 runs in his starts. In five of his starts the Jays scored 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 and 15 runs, which drive the average up. He had four starts where they scored 2 or less runs.

Days of rest in his starts:

• 4 days: 6 games, 1-1, 3.41 ERA. In 31.2 innings, batters hit .228/.258/.374.

• 5 days:6 games, 3-1, 3.38 ERA. In 26.2 innings, batters hit .290/.367/.551.

• 6+ days: 3 games, 2-0, 5.17 ERA. In 15.2 innings, batters hit .259/.266/.565.

By catcher:

• Alejandro Kirk: 2.37 ERA. Batters hit .239/.312/.366 in 38.0 innings.

• Tyler Heineman: 3.84 ERA. Batters hit .230/.262/.447 in just 63.1 innings.

• Ali Sanchez: 0.00 ERA. Batters hit .000/.167/.000 in 3.1 innings.

Times through the order, as a starter:

• 1st: Batters hit .242/.281/.484.

• 2nd: Batters hit .239/.299/.436.

• 3rd: Batters hit .356/.375/.600.

• 4th: He only faced 2 batters four times, getting two strikeouts.

Eric was terrific with RISP, batters hit .169/.235/.208, which kept his ERA low.

His best start, by GameScore was on July 24th in Detroit, a 74. He went 8 innings, allowed 5 hits, 1 earned (on a home run), no walks with 6 strikeouts.

His worst start was August 27th at home against the Twins. He went 4.2 innings, allowed 10 hits, 6 earned, 4 home runs, no walks, and 4 strikeouts.

Eric averaged 4.9 innings per start.

He had a 3.77 ERA as a starter (74 innings). 1.76 ERA as a reliever (30.2 innings).

In the Playoffs:

Series

W

L

ERA

G

GS

GF

CG

SHO

SV

IP

H

R

ER

HR

BB

IBB

SO

HBP

BF

FIP

SO/BB

WPA

ALDS

0

0

13.50

2

0

0

0

0

0

2.0

3

3

3

0

1

1

3

0

10

1.64

3.00

0.12

ALCS

0

0

0.00

1

0

1

0

0

0

1.0

1

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

4

-0.87

0.00

WS

0

0

0.00

2

0

1

0

0

0

5.2

2

0

0

0

5

3

3

0

24

4.72

0.60

0.63

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lauerer01.shtml?

For a pitcher we picked up for free, He was amazing.

He may have tired a bit towards the end of the season. But then he did well in sporadic work out of the bullpen in the last month of the season. He picked up a win and a hold in that month. He was used in six wins and one loss, pitching more than an inning in 5 of the seven games (one inning in the other two), going 3.1 in one games and 2.1 in another.

Baseball Savant had his Fastball Run Value in the 89th percentile. His Breaking Run Value was 39 percentile and his Offspeed Run Value 10th.

He threw the:

• Four-seamer 46.5% of the time averaging 91.7 mph.

• Cutter 20.5% of the time.

• Curveball 14.4%.

• Slider 10.6%.

• Changeup 8.0%.

The fastball was his most effective pitch.

The question, for next year, is how he’ll be used. He’s earned a spot on the roster, but will he be a starter or a reliever? I like him in a long relief role, but we don’t tend to use guys in a long relief role. I don’t know if that is a league-wide thing or just a Blue Jays thing, but it doesn’t happen all that much. I guess Lauer did go more than an inning some.

Eric’s arbitration eligible this winter, so he’ll make a few bucks next year. Spotrac figures him to get $5.3 million (almost enough to cover the vet bill we had for our cat).