The shoulder barrier that slowed down Eric Lauer last March was more serious than reported at the time, as the Brouers Southpaw tells Adam McCalvy and other MLB.com reporters that there was actually a tear to the shoulder capsule of his throwing arm, as tested later. The shutdown gave Lauer time to recover physically, but he misses two weeks of summer camp in quarantine after being in close contact with someone who was COVID-19 positive.
This all led to a memorable debut season for Lauer in Milwaukee, as he was up for a 13.09 ERA in just 11 overs. Acquired with Luis Urias for Zach Davies and Trent Grisham in an agreement with the Padres in November 2019, Lauer wants to meet its end of the trade yield by comparing its previous figures (4.40 ERA, 20.6K%) with 261 2/3 overs with San Diego in 2018-19. However, Lauer still has small league options left, which could put him in line for commuting back and forth from Triple-A while the Brewers mix and match their starting pitchers to keep everyone’s arm fresh.
More from the NL Central…
- The Cubsa wage situation has been a major focus of the off-season, but the president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, is’confident“The team will be able to add salaries for additions between the middle of the season”if we play well and there are clear things we need to do to add to the team. As Hoyer told Patrick Mooney and other reporters to The Athletic, much will depend on such uncertain revenue streams as the number of fans the team may allow in Wrigley Field. The Cubs opened the winter in a clear cost-saving mode, which resulted in the trade being shipped Yu Darvish to the Padres, and Hoyer acknowledged that ‘we were probably on the more pessimistic side of things ” in terms of payroll in the aftermath of the 2020 season. More recently, modest spending on players on one- or two-year contracts indicates a degree of willingness on the part of the team to expand the payroll, or as Hoyer put it:more optimistic or less pessimistic”About their spending ability.
- The Pirates The rotation in the off-season has been revamped, and although they are starting a preliminary five, most or all of the weapons that will compete for work will likely start this season, writes The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel. Except for Tyler AndersonNone of the other Bucs starting candidates have bagged more than 157 1/3 innings in a season, so there will be a lot of need for multiple throwers to cover innings, while pitchers will once again become poorer following the shortened 2020 season. ‘I think we’re talking about about 10 or 11 [pitchers]“” Pirates coach Oscar Marin said. Given how the Pirates remain open to trading ideas, it is quite possible that even more pitchers will be needed if the club will move a veteran arm or two before the deadline at some point.