Eric Lauer DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The Toronto Blue Jays are promoting left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer from Triple-A Buffalo prior to their contest on Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox. Lauer was slated to start for Triple-A this evening. Fantasy managers should monitor his status leading up to this game as he may be given the starting nod or could be deployed in a bulk relief role. Through 24 innings at Triple-A this season, the left-hander has held a modest 4.50 ERA with a 1.25 WHIP. During this stint, he has struck out 21 batters and served up six free passes. Last season, Lauer spent time in Milwaukee and logged a high 6.56 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP across 46 2/3 innings of work. He generated a 7.54 xERA with a .307 xBA, which were both in the first percentile. If he gets the starting nod, he should not be targeted in DFS formats.

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed left-handed pitcher Eric Lauer to a minor league contract that contains an invite to Spring Training. Lauer spent the 2024 campaign with Houston and Pittsburgh. Lauer spent the entire summer at the Triple-A level and held a 5.26 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP across 75 1/3 innings. However, from 2018 through 2023, Lauer spent the majority of his time in the major leagues. The southpaw made his big league debut in San Diego in 2018 and then went on to spent four seasons in Milwaukee. He posted a career-best 3.19 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP with a 7-5 record across 118 2/3 innings during the 2021 season. Fantasy managers in deeper AL-only formats should keep an eye on his status during Spring Training as he may contend for a spot in the back-half of the Toronto rotation.

The Houston Astros signed free-agent left-hander Eric Lauer to a minor-league deal on Monday and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, the team announced. Lauer will give the Astros' some much-needed starting rotation depth at the minor-league level for now. The 28-year-old southpaw recently opted out of his minors deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates after not pitching in the big leagues yet in 2024. He didn't look very good at Triple-A Indianapolis, though, so he'll need to show better results at Sugar Land in order to get consideration for a call-up to Houston. The former 25th overall pick by the San Diego Padres in 2016 out of Kent State has a career 4.30 ERA (4.60 FIP) and 1.37 WHIP with a mediocre 22 percent strikeout rate and 8.9 percent walk rate in 596 2/3 innings with the Padres and Brewers since 2018.