Arden Zwelling

Thanks so much for listening.

I'm okay.

It is, in fact, a Blue Jays off day.

And considering the deluge of events that have befallen this team over the last nine days on the road, I'm sure they're happy to have it.

The only thing I would say is that typically as a manager, you would like your fifth starter to be very low maintenance, to be rarely seen or heard from, to just be set and forget.

go out there, five and dive, thank you very much, see you in six days.

And the fact that you and I have had as many conversations as we've had about Eric Lauer to this point sort of suggests that he hasn't been filling that role for the Blue Jays.

So I do think that that is an interesting point of conflict for this club right now.

It's kind of like the last guy on your bench, like your Miles Straws of the world for the Blue Jays, where it's, hey, when I need you to pinch hit, when I need you to pinch run, and when I need you to start the outfield, just be ready to go and do the job as asked, and that's about it.

It's like the end of your bullpen with a Spencer Miles, where it's, hey, I might need you to come in and mop up for a couple of innings in the third because something went awry,

Or I might just call on you to pitch in very low leverage in the seventh or eighth because the game is out of hand.

Go out, do the job.

And other than that, I don't even really want to see your face.

I don't even want to even know you're in the clubhouse.

For Eric Lauer, I think as a number five starter, you want to be rather Patrick Corbin-esque, where right now he's just going out.

every turn of the rotation and throw in five innings.

And sometimes those five innings might surrender four runs.

Sometimes they might surrender only one.

It almost just matters most that they are five innings.

And Patrick Corbin the other day pitched really, really well through like 64 pitches and was lifted when really he could have continued.