Dodgers to Keep Six-Man Rotation With New Pitching Addition

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and All-Star Tyler Glasnow to injury in the same week.

Thus, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman went to work and acquired left-hander Eric Lauer from the Toronto Blue Jays to give the team starting pitching depth. Lauer was designated for assignment by Toronto after going 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA this season.

He gave up an AL-leading 11 homers across eight appearances (six starts) for the Blue Jays in 2026, but the Dodgers take pride in their reclamation projects and Lauer could very well be the latest.

The addition of Lauer means the Dodgers plan to keep the six-man rotation in order to give ample recovery time to their staple starters like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

Also, expect Eric Lauer to slot into the starting rotation after this road trip. Dodgers want to keep the six-man rotation as they attempt to maximize recovery for their starters.

— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 19, 2026

Lauer will join the Dodgers Tuesday during their road trip to San Diego. He is set to throw a preliminary bullpen so the team can evaluate where he is at, per manager Dave Roberts.

The plan is for the southpaw to begin his tenure with LA as a bulk option out of the bullpen, but eventually he will slot into the rotation. He likely won't make his Dodgers debut against the San Diego Padres, seeing as the series finale is Wednesday.

Dodgers fans can expect to see Lauer on the hill likely in the team's next series against the Milwaukee Brewers, barring any setbacks of course.

Lauer is a familiar face to the Dodgers lineup as he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings against LA in two World Series outings.

As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

Lauer will do just that.

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 8:05 PM.