Has Eric Lauer earned a temporary spot in the Blue Jays rotation?

In his first official start against the Detroit Tigers (May 17th), he struck out five batters and only gave up one run (a home run by Spencer Torkelson). While that was only three innings, he was able to weather a top-five team in offence to just three hits across 40 pitches. He was more so removed to play the matchup games with the bullpen, given the Tigers’ strong lineup versus pitching concerns.

His last start against the Rays was a bit of a mixed bag, as he went 4 1/3 innings against Tampa, giving up three runs (both home runs), six hits, two walks, and striking out just two batters. He reached 85 pitches, the highest tally for the left-hander this season in the big leagues, but wasn’t able to go very deep into the game due to the hits and some elevated pitch counts.

While the sample size is small for Lauer, he has been serviceable among the arms the Blue Jays have, as he has a better bWAR (0.3) than Bowden Francis (-0.5), who is scuffling through his last few outings.

Now, this is not to say Lauer is here to stay long term, as we saw with how Easton Lucas struggled after his first two starts, but he’s someone with major league experience and someone who can complement a pitching rotation and make them competitive. The goal is ultimately that a stopgap is in place until Scherzer is healthy, which is still ‘to be determined’ given his thumb woes.

Until Spencer Turnbull is deemed ready by the organization, Lauer can occupy a spot until, at the very least, the team can try and experiment with other arms. The Jays don’t boast a left-hander in the rotation at this time, and having Lauer in there might just be a solid option to complement the group of right-handers that currently sit in the rotation.