Lauer proving breakout pitching no fluke
His ERA falls to 2.16 after seven scoreless innings
In a game that featured a handful of rarities, Eric Lauer provided a constant: yet another superb outing for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Lauer went seven shutout frames as the Brewers offense erupted late in a 7-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday at American Family Field.
It was more of the same story over the past 11 months for Lauer, whose earned run average this season dipped to 2.16 following his fourth win and fifth quality start.
The evening also saw the Brewers connect on a 400-foot relay to throw out a runner at home plate attempting an inside-the-park homer while the Nationals turned a triple play during the same inning.
Rowdy Tellez opened the scoring with a two-run homer, his ninth of the season, in the sixth and Tyrone Taylor's three-run blast capped a five-run eighth to put the game out of reach.
Lauer does it again
Lauer had both his good stuff and location working in this outing. As we have learned over the first two months of the season, when that's the case, he can be not only as good as any pitcher on the Brewers but in all of baseball.
"Look, seven innings and no runs, that's a good start,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I don't care what kind of season you're having. That's a really good start. Eric's pitching really well. Very confident in what he's doing. He's expressed that and his stuff plays.
"He's got weapons for all types of hitters, for all types of strengths in the zone. And his stuff in the zone works. And those are all signs of a good pitcher."
In going seven shutout innings, Lauer lowered his earned run average dating back to last June 27 to 2.19, making it the best mark in baseball during that time. He jumped both teammate Corbin Burnes and Dodgers lefty Julio Urias, who entered the day with better ERAs in that stretch.
Lauer has operated via strikeouts for much of this season – actually recording an even higher strikeout percentage than Burnes – but against an aggressive Nationals lineup, he was content to pitch to his spots and generate outs any way he could. Fourteen of 25 at-bats against Lauer ended in three pitches or fewer.
Lauer countered Washington's aggressiveness with excellent command, particularly with his fastball and slider, to make competitive pitches early in counts that generated weak contact. He generated nine balls in play less than 80 mph off the bat and another four under 90.
“I don't mind when they come out swinging because I like to fill up the zone a lot,” Lauer said. “I like to make good pitches on the corners and hopefully get a lot of soft contact and it kind of seemed like that's how today went.”
Friday's outing provided further evidence as to why Lauer's breakout has the makings of a sustainable one.
His stuff is good enough to generate whiffs and strikeouts. He consistently attacks the zone and gets ahead of hitters. He can live in the zone. He can induce weak contact. He has a feel for multiple pitches and, on any night, can go to any one of them if his fastball isn't as sharp.
“I'm really happy with the way we've been attacking the zone,” Lauer said. “We've been able to change speeds and fill it up a lot, keep guys off-balance. A lot of early strikes are leading to early outs, which is good.”
Relay race
It was a home run robbery unlike you usually see but it was equally as impressive as an outfielder scaling the wall to bring one back.
With one out in the seventh, Lane Thomas scalded a ball to deep center and just past the outstretched glove of a sprinting Tyrone Taylor. It caromed off the angled wall in right-center and rolled along the warning track back toward straightaway center.
It's the type of play the Brewers talk about during batting practice as balls carom at a sharp angle off the wall in that particular spot. Most of the insidethe-park homers at American Family Field have come on plays just like it.
“Those sides, that wall, can create that,” Counsell said. “So those guys are very aware of it.”
Hunter Renfroe's hustle from right field to chase down the rolling ball started a relay to nab Thomas at the plate that proved to be the highlight of the night.
The rightfielder was headed in the direction of the play but took off once he saw the ball get past Taylor and launched a laser in the direction of cutoff man Kolten Wong. Wong's quick exchange and throw resulted in the ball getting to catcher Omar Narvaez before Thomas reached the plate and he applied the tag in time.
“You don't take off full-speed by any means but you take off running, you watch Tyrone to see where he is and see where the ball is,” Renfroe said. “He was going and I saw he probably wasn't going to catch it. In my eyes, I saw it going to the wall and I saw the positioning of the wall so I knew it was going to carom pretty good there. I was able to make a bee-line to cut it off, make a throw to Kolten and Kolten made a great throw home."
Added Counsell: “We executed a great relay. Not easy to do and we executed it really well. Dead center, that's some 400 feet and making good throws, two good throws to get a fast runner."
It was a key play because, although the Brewers would pile on five runs in the eighth, it was a 2-0 game at the time. Riley Adams followed with a single to left that would have scored Thomas with just one out had he not attempted to score, but instead Lauer retired Victor Robles to end the inning.
“It was a huge momentum shift for us because being able to make two huge relay throws and put the tag on a guy is really hard to do,” Lauer said. “It was an awesome play.”
Renfroe heats up
During the Brewers first homestand of the season, Renfroe made a prognostication after a game.
“Weather's gonna heat up, Brewers are gonna heat up,” he said.
While the weather in Milwaukee is creeping in the right direction, Renfroe is bolting toward a hot streak.
In going 3 for 3 and reaching base all four times against Washington, the rightfielder is batting .355/.411/.688 with four homers and eight runs batted in over his last 12 games and is up to a 130 wRC+ that would be the best mark of his career.
“Right now I feel good at the plate,” Renfroe said. “I'm seeing the ball well, my timing is on and I'm able to sit on pitches like a fastball and still be able to hit a slider or changeup. I feel good. I just have to keep going, keep practicing, make sure I feel good, stay healthy and keep grinding.”
Renfroe provided one of the key hits of the game, a two-strike single he punched through the right side with authority to turn a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 lead in the eighth.
“When I see Hunter, that last at-bat, where he takes the fastball and hits it hard the other way, against right handers, especially against a fastball, going hard the other way, he's having good at bats,” Counsell said. “Got on top of that ball. He hit a curveball the first at-bat. So just solid at bats all night."
So far, Renfroe has been everything the Brewers could have wanted when they traded for him for Jackie Bradley Jr. and a pair of prospects during the winter. Renfroe is tied for fourth in the National League with nine homers, just one off the lead, and has played plus defense in right.
With Bradley Jr. hitting .193 with a .536 OPS making at least $17.5 million over the next season, including a potential buyout of $8 million, Milwaukee certainly is pleased with how the transaction has played out in 2022.