Brewers option veteran LHP to Triple-A

The Brewers activated Eric Lauer from the 15-day injured list Tuesday but optioned the left-hander to Triple-A Nashville rather than return him to the major league roster. Between injury and inconsistency, Lauer’s 2023 season has been a rough ride, and Brewers GM Matt Arnold told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) the team felt the Triple-A move was necessary since “we want to get him right, to be healthy and be a contributor.”

Lauer has been out of action since May 22 due to an impingement in his right shoulder. Though his throwing arm remained fine, Lauer told MLB.com and other reporters that his right shoulder problem still impacted his delivery, which could explain his shaky results this season. Over 42 2/3 innings, Lauer had only a 5.48 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate, as well as high hard-contact rates. The southpaw’s 13.5% barrel rate ranks near the bottom of the league, and all of these barrels have resulted in Lauer’s career-worst 20.6% home run rate.

Not a particularly hard thrower to begin with, Lauer had a big velocity drop, going from a 93.4mph average fastball in 2022 to a 90.9mph heater this season. However, he said that recent bullpen sessions have brought some velo back, adding roughly three to five mph to his fastball. The results haven’t been there for Lauer over a pair of minor league rehab starts, but he’ll now get a fuller stretch in Nashville to get himself more fully back on track.

Lauer pitched well for Milwaukee over the last two seasons, moving into the rotation on a full-time basis in 2021 and delivering a 3.47 ERA over 277 1/3 innings in 2021-22. His quality results and flexibility to work as a swingman if needed have been a valuable part of the Brew Crew’s pitching depth, yet that depth has been pretty severely tested this season by a number of injuries. Fortunately for the Brewers, Wade Miley is projected to return from the IL this weekend, perhaps giving the team a bit of breathing room to send Lauer to Triple-A.

Heading into the 2023 season, Lauer has four full seasons and 33 days (or, 4.033) of major league service time. That total has now increased to 4.110 since Opening Day, so unless Lauer’s stint in Triple-A lasts quite a bit longer than expected, he shouldn’t be in jeopardy of not amassing the six full years of MLB service time required for free agency. Lauer is currently slated to hit the open market following the 2024 season.