Eric Lauer earns win against Rockies on Tuesday

This move officially ends Lauer’s 2026 season. The 31-year-old southpaw landed on the injured list last week due to inflammation in his pitching elbow. Josue De Paula was promoted from Double-A Tulsa on Friday to take Lauer’s spot on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.

It’s was always a bit unclear how exactly Lauer would fit into Los Angeles’ pitching equation heading into the postseason. He’s probably going to miss at least a few weeks, if not longer. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming days. He was lit up for seven runs over three innings in a loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday night. It’s most likely going to be Emmet Sheehan coming up to fill his rotation spot against the Nationals on Sunday.

Lauer stranded a runner in the first inning, then gave up back-to-back solo homers to Thomas Saggese and Ramón Urías in the second. The Cardinals piled on five more runs on five hits, a walk, and a hit batter in the third inning. Lauer wouldn’t make it out for the fourth, ending his day at 63 pitches. He struck out two. The 31-year-old left-hander will look to bounce back when he takes a 5.23 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 72/35 K/BB ratio across 108 1/3 innings into a start against the Nationals in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Sasaki was pulled from Wednesday’s start against the Braves after the blister issue cropped up. No word yet on how long he’ll be shelved for, but he’ll miss at least one trip through the Dodgers’ rotation. Eric Lauer will move back from the bullpen to take his place in the club’s six-man rotation for the time being.

With Tyler Glasnow back and Shohei Ohtani nearing a return as well, there simply isn’t room to keep the 31-year-old southpaw in the club’s six-man rotation. He’ll be available out of the bullpen beginning on Tuesday.

Glasnow will have a rehab start on Friday and another after that, likely on next Wednesday, before being a candidate to come off the injured list. That would put him on track to start in the big leagues during the last week of August against the Braves or Tigers. Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer are candidates to move to the bullpen when Glasnow returns.

Lauer allowed just four hits, and he struck out a solid six against two walks. It’s a vast improvement — albeit against a vastly worse team — than his six runs on 11 hits against the Cubs, and more inline with how Lauer has pitched since being acquired by the Dodgers from Toronto. The southpaw seems likely to give up his rotation spot at some point, but for now, he’s scheduled to face the Rockies in Colorado next week.

Even though they have Thursday off, the Dodgers didn’t get aggressive in removing Lauer today; he was allowed to give up five straight hits and three runs with two outs in the fourth inning. The Dodgers offense almost left him off the hook by scoring five times to close within one run in the eighth, but it went as his first loss for the team; he’s now 5-1 with a 3.72 ERA in 55 2/3 innings since being sent off by the Blue Jays. Lauer should start again Tuesday against the Royals, but that might be his last turn for a while with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow on the way back.

Lauer was originally slated to move to a bulk relief role, but the team decided to send Emmet Sheehan down to Triple-A and keep Lauer in the rotation. Of course, Blake Snell (elbow) is also close to returning, and Tyler Glasnow (back) is beginning a rehab assignment, which means Lauer may be moving to the bullpen shortly. For now, he’ll start Wednesday against the Cubs.

Lauer averaged 92.1 mph with his fastball tonight, matching his season high. and allowed only three hard-hit balls. He’s now 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA in nine outings for the Dodgers after going 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA with the Blue Jays, and the Angels are already preparing to make him a three-year, $39 million offer in November. First, though, he’ll face the Cubs on Tuesday.