Dodgers' New Addition Eric Lauer Clarifies Controversial Comments

Before Eric Lauer became the soon-to-be sixth starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The left-hander produced a 6.69 ERA with 26 strikeouts across 36.1 innings for Toronto this season. Lauer's mark was much higher in 2026 than his strong performance last season, where he helped the Blue Jays reach the World Series and nearly take down the Dodgers.

In 2025, Lauer sported a 3.18 ERA with 102 strikeouts across 104.2 innings pitched.

Lauer emerged as somewhat of a do-everything pitcher for the Blue Jays this year because of injuries to the rotation. Starters such as Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios and Shane Bieber were all sidelined, which left Toronto searching for strategies to counter the ailing pitching staff.

One of those strategies included using an opener ahead of one of Lauer's starts in April. The left-hander expressed his disdain for the decision at the time.

“It’s definitely different,” Lauer said last month. “To be real blunt, I hate it. I can’t stand it. But you work with what you got.”

“You can make it work the best you can,” Lauer added. “It’s just, hopefully it’s not something that we will continue doing. But you know, that’s above my pay grade.”

On Tuesday with the Dodgers, he had the opportunity to clarify his comments.

“A lot of that was kind of taken out of context,” Lauer said.

“There was no ill will there. There was no hurt feelings. It was a very simple question, I thought, ‘How do you feel about an opener?’ I think if you ask most starters in the league, they would probably have the same response, that they don’t like it. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to do it. It doesn’t mean that I’m not a team player. I’m not gonna have a problem if there is somebody in front of me. It’s part of the game, it’s become part of the game, and we’re all here to win ball games. It’s not about any individual player."

Lauer said he spoke with Blue Jays manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker "right away" to clear things up, and there was no bad blood between him and the organization.

“That was a lot more than I expected that to turn into. And I got a lot of hate for that," Lauer said. "I cleared it up with the pitching coach, I cleared up with Pete and Schneids [John Schneider] right away. There was no ill will there, there was no crap talking or anything about it to them, like we all understood where it came from. It was just a little more blown up than I expected it to be, and I ever wanted it to be. So there’s no problem with an opener, I’ll say that.”

Lauer's comments were used as an answer as to why the Blue Jays decided to cut the southpaw, citing strained relationships with the coaching staff in Toronto.

Regardless of the situation up north, Lauer is on to the next chapter of his career with the back-to-back World Series champions. He is set to make his first start for the Dodgers next week against the Colorado Rockies, and could potentially pitch out of the bullpen on Wednesday against the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers' solution to losing Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow for the foreseeable future was trading for Lauer. Only time will tell whether the left-hander finds success in a Dodgers uniform.

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