SEATTLE, WA - MAY 11: Relief pitcher Eric Lauer #56 of the Toronto Blue Jays is congratulated by teammates in the dugout during the seventh inning of a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on May 11, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
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The Toronto Blue Jays might have been hoping to recapture the momentum they enjoyed during their World Series run last year when they visited the rival New York Yankees this week.
In the latest American League Division Series, the Blue Jays topped their division foe in four games. But instead of enjoying a similar result in their latest series, the team endured two straight losses going into Wednesday.
“We’re not the same team we were last year,” outfielder Daulton Varsho said after Tuesday’s loss, per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “We have to find a different identity than what we were because obviously there are different guys in the clubhouse, different lineup. So understanding who we are now, we have to get that identity to come out.”
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As the Blue Jays struggle to figure out what the most effective version of their team looks like this season, it recently cut ties with a key figure from the World Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers who was performing like a far cry from his former self.
Last week, the Blue Jays designated Eric Lauer for assignment after he posted a 6.69 ERA with a league-leading 11 home runs allowed. Despite those struggles, the decision might have been a bit of a surprise after Lauer maintained a 3.38 ERA in 15 starts last year and posted more than five scoreless innings in the World Series.
But the pitcher publicly expressed his frustration with the Blue Jays on multiple occasions, including when he lost an arbitration hearing against the team in the offseason and then again when the team placed him in an opener’s role as it tried to navigate a rotation in flux.
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“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,” Lauer explained, according to The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett, after he said he said “I hate” the idea of the Blue Jays using him as an opener. “So that (reaction) was a lot more than I expected that to turn into. And I got a lot of hate for that…”
Lauer was evidently saying that the “hate” he received for expressing his own “hate” for the Blue Jays’ strategy came from outside of the organization, as he added that he cleared the air with pitching coach Pete Walker and manager John Schneider immediately after voicing his opinion.
“There was no ill will there, there was no crap talking or anything about him to them, like we all understood where it came from,” Lauer added, per Plunkett.
Now, as the pitcher looks for a fresh start with the Blue Jays’ National League World Series rival, he is surely looking to put the hate behind him — both his own feelings about how he is utilized and those of critics who feel he should keep his opinions to himself.
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