Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer had previously been a key member of the team’s rotation over the past few seasons. Unfortunately his start to 2023 was not ideal, he was on the injured list a few different times, and eventually he was optioned to the minor leagues.
Shortly after being optioned he was placed on the temporarily inactive list. The Brewers indicated that he was in Arizona at the Phoenix Complex, but did not share any other details as to why or what was happening for the couple of months he was there and not pitching in live games.
Now on the second to last game of the regular season Eric Lauer is set to return to the big leagues. Prior to taking the mound against the Chicago Cubs he shed some light on his first half disappearance.
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer sheds light on his first half disappearance.
Prior to heading to Arizona Eric Lauer was placed on the injured list with a strange diagnosis of right shoulder impingement. As a left-handed thrower an injury to his non-throwing side is unusual, but at that time he went on the record talking about how his mechanics were out of sync. According to Eric Lauer mechanics was a part of the reason why he was gone for so long, but there was more things in play as well.
“It was kind of a combination of issues. That’s what made it hard, is there wasn’t one glaring thing. It was a couple different pieces. There was inflammation in the shoulder. There was inflammation in the elbow. There was nerve compression. The way it was kind of described to me was you can’t cock the gun, you can’t shoot the bullet. I would get to that cocking phase and it would just fall off.
“So once we got the compression out of there, once we got all the inflammation out there – there was just more than I anticipated. I think there was more than anybody anticipated. Once I got the inflammation out there, it was pretty smooth sailing after that. Then it was a matter of re-synching everything.
Looking past tonight’s game against the Cubs the Brewers will have to make a decision regarding Eric Lauer during the offseason. 2024 will be his final year of arbitration. He made just over $5.00 MM this year so if they tender him a contract it likely means that they expect him to play a role next year.
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