Amid a wave of recent pitching injuries, the Dodgers are adding some depth by acquiring a longtime nemesis.
Veteran left-hander Eric Lauer was acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays, the team announced, after being designated for assignment by Toronto last week.
The Dodgers sent cash considerations back to Toronto for Lauer, who is expected to join the team during this week’s series in San Diego and serve as a long reliever out of the bullpen. Brusdar Graterol was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
Lauer, 30, is an eight-year MLB veteran with 133 career starts and 156 total big-league appearances. He has a career ERA of 4.26 but was DFA’d by the Blue Jays after allowing 27 runs, and an American League-most 11 home runs, in his first eight outings this year (six of which were starts).
The Dodgers are plenty familiar with Lauer, having faced him 13 times since he arrived in the majors in 2018. In those games, the crafty southpaw had a 2.90 ERA against the club — his third-best mark against any opponent he has faced more than five times.
The Dodgers have seen their rotation depth whittled away the last two weeks, with Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell landing on the injured list.
Their bullpen has also suffered a couple hits, the latest coming on Sunday morning when Jack Dreyer was placed on the IL with left shoulder discomfort.
The team called up Paul Gervase and Chayce McDermott to freshen up their bullpen for Sunday’s series finale against the Angels (left-hander Charlie Barnes was optioned in a corresponding move).
But in Lauer, they are adding someone with more established MLB credentials; and who can potentially help eat more innings as they wait for reinforcements to come back from the IL.
The most consistent stretch of Lauer’s career came in 2021 and 2022 with the Brewers, when he went 18-12 with a 3.47 ERA over the two seasons combined.
After that, he had to reinvent himself, spending much of 2023 and all of 2024 in the minors. At the end of 2024, he even signed with a team in South Korea’s KBO league, before returning to the majors with the Blue Jays last year.
Lauer became an important piece on that Blue Jays team during its run to the World Series. In the regular season, he was 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 28 games (15 starts). He then produced scoreless outings in four of his five playoff appearances, including a 4 2/3-inning performance out of the bullpen during a marathon 18-inning contest in Game 3.
Now, he will try to tap back into that kind of form with the Dodgers, who need the help after all their recent losses.
