Toronto Blue Jays Switch Up Weekend Pitching Plans vs. White Sox

The Toronto Blue Jays have changed up their weekend pitching plans against the Chicago White Sox, as noted by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

Matheson reports that left-hander Eric Lauer will pitch on Sunday instead of Saturday because of sickness. The Saturday starter is still listed as to-be-determined, though it’s likely to be Lazaro Estrada, who was called up from Triple-A to take the place of Cody Ponce, who is on the injured list because of an ACL sprain that will cost him significant time.

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Ponce was signed to a three-year deal worth $30 million this offseason and was expected to be a big part of the rotation. He joins Jose Berrios, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber on the injured list. Yesavage is pitching Friday for Single-A Dunedin.

Hazel Mae of Sportsnet adds that there is a bug going around the clubhouse.

Lauer struck out out nine batters over 5.1 innings in his first outing of the season against the Athletics on Sunday. He surrendered two earned runs on three hits, only walking one.

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A 30-year-old Ohio native, Lauer is in his eighth major league season with the San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays. Owner of a lifetime 46-39 record, Lauer won a career-high 11 games in 2022 with Milwaukee. He spent the 2024 season in Korea playing in the KBO. He joined the Blue Jays in 2025 going 9-2, and is in the final year of his contract.

He was initially anticipated to be a long reliever for the Jays, but with all the rotation injuries, he’s been pressed back into starting duty.

The more starts he makes, the more valuable he’ll be on the free agent market next offseason.

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Dylan Cease takes the ball for the Blue Jays on Friday afternoon (2:10 p.m. ET). It’s the home opener for the White Sox. Cease was a former All-Star with Chicago.

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Eric Lauer (56) pitches to the Athletics during the first inning at Rogers Centre. John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Blue Jays got some disappointing news on Thursday, learning they will have the second-smallest MLB Draft pool bonus this July, just over $5.5 million.

What this really means is that Toronto can’t take many risks in the draft. Usually, you’ll see teams with lots of money sign high-value high school prospects to big money deals, essentially “buying them out” of college commitments.

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The Blue Jays won’t have the money to do that, so they’ll have to select a lot of college players without the option to go back to college. Safer signings will be the name of the game. It doesn’t mean Toronto can’t still find good players, but they won’t be able to take a chance on the high-upside guys that other teams will.

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