Per Andrew Destin, left handed pitcher Eric Lauer has been granted his release from the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Lauer signed a minor league deal with the Pirates on March 7th, and was invited to spring training, having to get up to speed rather quick due to his late signing.

Lauer was coming off a harsh and injury-riddled season with the Milwaukee Brewers that saw him post a 6.56 ERA in 10 major league games (9 starts) last year.

Lauer was fighting an impingement in his non-throwing shoulder that landed him on the Injured List in late May. Once he returned, he was optioned to Triple-A and only saw one major league appearance after that.

Things did not go all that better in Triple-A Nashville, where he pitched in 12 games (9 starts) with a 3-4 record with 5.15 ERA. He was granted free agency at the end of the season.

It was a disappointing season especially considering he had put together two very respectable seasons the prior two years. Lauer had a 7-5 record with a 3.19 ERA in 2021 and a 11-7 record with a 3.69 ERA in 2022.

And perhaps the Pirates took a flyer on him in the hopes that he could return to that form and eventually take over a rotation spot with the Pirates. After all, at that point in the year, there were a lot of questions around the rotation and that fifth spot was particularly up in the air.

Lauer did not make the major league team out of spring training and began the year with Triple-A Indianapolis.

With the Indians, things. sadly had a similar trend to last season in Triple-A ball. Lauer pitched in 8 games (6 starts) with a 2-2 record and 5.52 ERA. Among starters for Indianapolis, Lauer’s ERA was second highest on the team, only behind Cam Alldred’s 6.92 ERA.

Lauer had a stipulation in his contract that granted him a release clause, essentially allowing him to be cut loose from the team, should he choose to exercise it, with May 16th as a deadline.

Today, he opted to exercise it, and after his release being granted by the Pirates, he will become a free agent.

With the Pirates’ rotation looking mostly steady, Lauer probably didn’t have any real shot of getting back to the major leagues with Pittsburgh. His only real chance, now that Paul Skenes is with the Pirates, was Bailey Falter struggling enough to force the Pirates to move on from him.

Falter, however, has mostly held his own with a 4.15 ERA. He has been far from perfect, but he has done enough to hold a back-end rotation spot for right now.

Even if Falter’s spot was in jeopardy, it’s doubtful the Pirates would have called upon Lauer considering his struggles in Triple-A this year.

It will be interesting to see where the soon to be 29-year old goes. There is a major league arm there, or at the very least, there was. He could sign another deal with any other team, and I would expect somebody to at least extend him a minor league deal.

(Featured photo by Phil Long/AP)