opener strategy – Eric Lauer said he dislikes the Blue Jays’ opener approach after Toronto’s 6-3 loss to Arizona, even as Braydon Fisher kept the game close early.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ decision to use an opener backfired emotionally for Eric Lauer, even though the strategy sparked a clean first inning.
Lauer. speaking to reporters after Friday’s 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. didn’t mince words about how the opener plan disrupted his rhythm.. “It’s definitely different,” he said.. “To be real blunt, I hate it.. I can’t stand it.” The 30-year-old framed it as more than preference. calling out how the plan changes timing. preparation. and the routines starters rely on.
Toronto deployed Braydon Fisher for the first inning, giving Lauer the mound in the second.. Fisher delivered exactly what the concept is designed to do—one hit allowed in a scoreless frame—before handing the ball to Lauer. who entered with the chance to settle the game back into a starter’s flow.. Lauer’s early work looked like a reset from his previous outings.. Through the second and third innings. he didn’t allow a runner past first. keeping the deficit from widening after a Toronto 1-0 lead.
The tension surfaced later, when Lauer ran into the kind of damage that often decides these managed-start games.. After the Blue Jays pushed ahead in the fourth, Nolan Arenado answered with a solo home run off Lauer.. Then in the fifth. Arizona added runs through Corbin Carroll and Jose Fernandez. turning early contact into a clearer separation and forcing Lauer to spend more innings than he likely wanted working out of leverage spots.
What made Lauer’s reaction notable wasn’t the loss itself—baseball is full of rough follow-through moments—but the fact that the opener plan still shaped how he viewed the day even after his final results were posted.. He admitted the runs lowered his ERA to 7.13, yet insisted his discomfort wasn’t about the box score.. His critique focused on routine and feel: “It messes with your pre-game routine,” he said.. “We’re creatures of habit.. It changes the rhythm and routine.. It’s a little harder to time things out.”
That perspective matters in a league where the opener is often defended as a matchups-driven tool.. Managers use it to influence leverage, manage bullpen workloads, and sometimes attack favorable innings for hitters.. But for a starter who typically expects to build his pitch timing from the first inning. the opener can create a mismatch between preparation and game rhythm.. Lauer’s comments underline that even when the opener works on paper—scoreless inning. limited damage—the human side of pitching still has real consequences.
There’s also a broader storyline behind Lauer’s frustration: this was supposed to be a stabilization point after a difficult stretch.. The eight-year MLB veteran previously opened the season with a pair of rough starts.. His first turn began with nine strikeouts but still ended with significant damage. and a flu limited him to two innings in his next outing versus the Chicago White Sox.. Against Minnesota and now Arizona. the pattern has been inconsistent execution—showing the ability to control at times. while still falling behind when innings turn.
On Friday, the Blue Jays’ plan started smoothly and even gave Toronto a brief lead.. Fisher’s clean first inning helped the Blue Jays look like they might control the tempo.. But once Arizona’s bats found another gear against Lauer, the opener’s advantages couldn’t fully compensate.. The result was a 6-3 loss that leaves Toronto needing to re-evaluate how well its strategy fits the personnel it’s asking to execute.
Looking ahead. Lauer’s next start comes on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. assuming Toronto keeps him on its current rotation plan.. If the opener approach continues. it will be interesting to see whether Lauer’s preparation changes—whether he adjusts his timing to the altered routine. or whether the discomfort lingers and affects how quickly he settles once he takes over.. For the Blue Jays. it’s a reminder that “mixing things up” only goes so far; the pitching staff still has to feel connected to the plan once the game becomes its own series of pressures.
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