Who Should I Trade?

Eric Lauer for Steven Cruz (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Eric Lauer SP,RP - LAD	Steven Cruz RP - KC
Expert Recommendation	100% Recommended by 2 of 2 experts	0% Recommended by 0 of 2 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 209	‐
VBR	# 810	# 575

Projections

Strikeouts	23	21
Wins	2	1
Saves	0	0
ERA	5.21	4.17
WHIP	1.44	1.36

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 135	‐

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 137	# 237

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Eric Lauer SP,RP - LAD	Steven Cruz RP - KC
2026 Stats


Games Played	15	32

Games Started	12	2

Innings Pitched	76.2	34.0

Wins	4	2

Losses	5	2

Saves	0	0

Blown Saves	1	1

Holds	0	2

Hits Allowed	71	27

Earned Runs	41	17

Home Runs Allowed	18	9

Strikeouts	47	41

Walks	27	16

ERA	4.81	4.50

WHIP	1.28	1.26

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Eric Lauer SP,RP - LAD	Steven Cruz RP - KC
2026 Projections


Games Played	12	24

Games Started	4	0

Innings Pitched	28.1	20.8

Wins	2	1

Losses	2	1

Saves	0	0

Blown Saves	0	0

Holds	0	4

Hits Allowed	29	18

Earned Runs	16	10

Home Runs Allowed	6	3

Strikeouts	23	21

Walks	10	9

ERA	5.21	4.17

WHIP	1.44	1.36

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Eric Lauer SP,RP - LAD	Steven Cruz RP - KC
News
	Eric Lauer will start on Wednesday against the Phillies. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 20th	Steven Cruz struck out two while allowing one earned run on one hit over one inning. Chase Davis Thu, Jul 9th
	Eric Lauer allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three over six innings in Monday's win over the Rockies. Chase Davis Tue, Jul 7th	Steven Cruz struck out three batters while allowing no hits and no earned runs, walking one over 1.1 frames in Friday's loss to the White Sox. Chase Davis Sat, Jun 27th
	Eric Lauer allowed three earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two over six innings in Monday's win over the Athletics. Chase Davis Tue, Jun 30th	Steven Cruz will start on Friday for the Royals against the White Sox. Ari Koslow Fri, Jun 26th
	Eric Lauer allowed zero earned runs on zero hits and three walks while striking out two over six innings in Monday's 2-1 win over Minnesota. Chase Davis Tue, Jun 23rd	Steven Cruz struck out two batters over 1.1 scoreless innings while allowing no hits or walks in Tuesday's win over the Rangers. Chase Davis Wed, Jun 10th
	Eric Lauer will pitch in a bulk relief role on Monday against the Twins. Ari Koslow Mon, Jun 22nd	The Royals recalled Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha. Ari Koslow Fri, May 8th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Eric Lauer SP,RP - LAD			Steven Cruz RP - KC
Thu, Mar 26th	vs ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#169
Fri, Mar 27th	vs ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#207	@ ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6
Sat, Mar 28th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#111	@ ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#90
Mon, Mar 30th	vs CLE	Parker Messick (8-5)	#41	vs MIN	Simeon Woods Richardson (1-7)	#370
Tue, Mar 31st	vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#51
Wed, Apr 1st	vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Fri, Apr 3rd	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#327
Sat, Apr 4th	@ WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#191	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (3-1)	#58
Sun, Apr 5th	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#55
Mon, Apr 6th	@ TOR	Max Scherzer (1-4)	#165	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#51
Tue, Apr 7th	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-9)	#19	@ CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Wed, Apr 8th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (6-5)	#9	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Fri, Apr 10th	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#98	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#92
Sat, Apr 11th	vs TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#135	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#407
Sun, Apr 12th	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8	vs CWS	Grant Taylor (4-2)	#44
Mon, Apr 13th	vs NYM	David Peterson (5-7)	#84
Tue, Apr 14th	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (7-6)	#32	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#29
Wed, Apr 15th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#107	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54
Fri, Apr 17th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#22
Sat, Apr 18th	@ COL	Ryan Feltner (3-4)	#432	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Sun, Apr 19th	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#57
Mon, Apr 20th	@ COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#431	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#40
Tue, Apr 21st	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#56	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#68
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (2-9)	#83	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#206
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ SF	Logan Webb (5-7)	#15
Fri, Apr 24th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#102	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-3)	#141
Sat, Apr 25th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (7-6)	#195	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#258
Sun, Apr 26th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Mon, Apr 27th	vs MIA	Chris Paddack (0-7)
Tue, Apr 28th	vs MIA	Janson Junk (4-6)	#106	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#236
Wed, Apr 29th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (10-5)	#53	@ ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#184
Fri, May 1st	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#110	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13
Sat, May 2nd	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-7)	#88	@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93
Sun, May 3rd	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#67
Mon, May 4th	@ HOU	Steven Okert		vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-9)	#51
Tue, May 5th	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#136	vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Wed, May 6th	@ HOU	Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3)	#198	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Fri, May 8th	vs ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6	vs DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160
Sat, May 9th	vs ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#208	vs DET	Burch Smith
Sun, May 10th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#126	vs DET	Brenan Hanifee
Mon, May 11th	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#168
Tue, May 12th	vs SF	Adrian Houser (2-7)	#192	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#407
Wed, May 13th	vs SF	Robbie Ray (8-6)	#87	@ CWS	Noah Schultz (3-7)	#213
Thu, May 14th	vs SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#56	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Fri, May 15th	@ LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)		@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Sat, May 16th	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47	@ STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#119
Sun, May 17th	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-3)	#113	@ STL	Andre Pallante (10-6)	#133
Mon, May 18th	@ SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (12-1)	#31
Tue, May 19th	@ SD	Griffin Canning (1-8)	#171	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#28
Wed, May 20th	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#269	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#138
Fri, May 22nd	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (3-1)	#58	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#11
Sat, May 23rd	@ MIL	Robert Gasser (2-4)	#137	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#23
Sun, May 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-5)	#125	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13
Mon, May 25th	vs COL	Tanner Gordon (0-2)	#338	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Tue, May 26th	vs COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#240	vs NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#22
Wed, May 27th	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433	vs NYY	Gerrit Cole (3-5)	#30
Fri, May 29th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#5	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Sat, May 30th	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-4)	#10	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#98
Sun, May 31st	vs PHI	Andrew Painter (1-8)	#250	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#135
Mon, Jun 1st	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#111	@ CIN	Lyon Richardson
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#72	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#105
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#169	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#21
Thu, Jun 4th	@ ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#207	@ MIN	Andrew Morris (4-2)	#155
Fri, Jun 5th	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#109
Sat, Jun 6th	vs LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)		@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Sun, Jun 7th	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (2-5)	#118
Tue, Jun 9th	@ PIT	Paul Skenes (9-8)	#3	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Wed, Jun 10th	@ PIT	Jared Jones (2-1)	#49	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Thu, Jun 11th	@ PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#112	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (3-8)	#98
Fri, Jun 12th	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200	vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#129
Sat, Jun 13th	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-4)	#86	vs HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#178
Sun, Jun 14th	@ CWS	Bryan Hudson (3-2)	#176	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#154
Mon, Jun 15th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#103	@ WSH	Andrew Alvarez (2-3)	#151
Tue, Jun 16th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (8-5)	#18	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63
Wed, Jun 17th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-7)	#179
Fri, Jun 19th	vs BAL	Trey Gibson (1-3)	#313	vs STL	Michael McGreevy (4-7)	#88
Sat, Jun 20th	vs BAL	Trevor Rogers (6-7)	#70
Sun, Jun 21st	vs BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#45
Mon, Jun 22nd	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#109	@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (8-5)	#18
Tue, Jun 23rd	@ MIN	Kendry Rojas (1-1)	#229	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Wed, Jun 24th	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14	@ TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#60
Fri, Jun 26th	@ SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#190	@ CWS	David Sandlin (2-1)	#321
Sat, Jun 27th	@ SD	Kyle Hart (0-2)	#211	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#92
Sun, Jun 28th	@ SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Mon, Jun 29th	@ ATH	Gage Jump (3-5)	#91
Tue, Jun 30th	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#189	vs TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#60
Wed, Jul 1st	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#144	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Thu, Jul 2nd	vs SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#269	vs TB	Ian Seymour (6-2)	#76
Fri, Jul 3rd	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50
Sat, Jul 4th	vs SD	Wandy Peralta (1-1)	#212	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-4)	#10
Sun, Jul 5th	vs SD	JP Sears (2-3)	#167	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-7)	#52
Mon, Jul 6th	vs COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#240	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4
Tue, Jul 7th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428	@ NYM	Cionel Perez
Wed, Jul 8th	vs COL	Gabriel Hughes (0-1)	#252	@ NYM	Christian Scott (3-1)	#62
Fri, Jul 10th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#111	@ BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Sat, Jul 11th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (4-1)	#71	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#40
Sun, Jul 12th	vs ARI	Mitch Bratt (0-0)	#194	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#68
Fri, Jul 17th	@ NYY	Gerrit Cole (3-5)	#30	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50
Sun, Jul 19th	@ NYY	Ryan Yarbrough (2-0)	#261	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#377
Mon, Jul 20th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#168
Tue, Jul 21st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#5	vs SF	Tyler Mahle (2-9)	#83
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-7)	#52	vs SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#56
Fri, Jul 24th	@ NYM	Sean Manaea (2-5)	#81	@ DET	Tarik Skubal (6-5)	#2
Sat, Jul 25th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-6)	#32	@ DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39
Sun, Jul 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#42	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#29
Tue, Jul 28th	vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#67	@ MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#89
Wed, Jul 29th	vs SEA			@ MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#46
Thu, Jul 30th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-4)	#38	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#109
Fri, Jul 31st	vs BOS	Payton Tolle (5-6)	#59	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433
Sat, Aug 1st	vs BOS			@ COL
Sun, Aug 2nd	vs BOS			@ COL
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ CHC
Tue, Aug 4th	@ CHC			vs MIN
Wed, Aug 5th	@ CHC			vs MIN
Fri, Aug 7th	@ ARI			vs CHC
Sat, Aug 8th	@ ARI			vs CHC
Sun, Aug 9th	@ ARI			vs CHC
Mon, Aug 10th	vs KC			@ LAD
Tue, Aug 11th	vs KC			@ LAD
Wed, Aug 12th	vs KC			@ LAD
Thu, Aug 13th	vs MIL
Fri, Aug 14th	vs MIL			@ LAA
Sat, Aug 15th	vs MIL			@ LAA
Sun, Aug 16th	vs MIL			@ LAA
Mon, Aug 17th	@ COL			vs ATH
Tue, Aug 18th	@ COL			vs ATH
Wed, Aug 19th	@ COL			vs ATH
Fri, Aug 21st	vs PIT			vs DET
Sat, Aug 22nd	vs PIT			vs DET
Sun, Aug 23rd	vs PIT			vs DET
Tue, Aug 25th	@ ATL			@ TOR
Wed, Aug 26th	@ ATL			@ TOR
Thu, Aug 27th	@ ATL			@ TOR
Fri, Aug 28th	@ DET			@ CLE
Sat, Aug 29th	@ DET			@ CLE
Sun, Aug 30th	@ DET			@ CLE
Tue, Sep 1st	vs STL			vs MIA
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs STL			vs MIA
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs STL			vs MIA
Fri, Sep 4th	vs WSH			vs TOR
Sat, Sep 5th	vs WSH			vs TOR
Sun, Sep 6th	vs WSH			vs TOR
Mon, Sep 7th	vs CIN			vs ARI
Tue, Sep 8th	vs CIN			vs ARI
Wed, Sep 9th	vs CIN			vs ARI
Fri, Sep 11th	@ MIA			@ BOS
Sat, Sep 12th	@ MIA			@ BOS
Sun, Sep 13th	@ MIA			@ BOS
Mon, Sep 14th	@ CIN
Tue, Sep 15th	@ CIN			@ HOU
Wed, Sep 16th	@ CIN			@ HOU
Thu, Sep 17th	@ CIN			@ HOU
Fri, Sep 18th	vs SF			@ PIT
Sat, Sep 19th	vs SF			@ PIT
Sun, Sep 20th	vs SF			@ PIT
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs SD			vs CWS
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs SD			vs CWS
Thu, Sep 24th	vs SD			vs CWS
Fri, Sep 25th	@ SF			vs CLE
Sat, Sep 26th	@ SF			vs CLE
Sun, Sep 27th	@ SF			vs CLE
Sun, Mar 29th				@ ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#152
Thu, Apr 2nd				vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#46
Thu, Apr 9th				vs CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Thu, Apr 16th				@ DET	Keider Montero (6-5)	#160
Thu, Apr 30th				@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#189
Thu, May 7th				vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#104
Thu, Jun 18th				vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-7)	#110
Thu, Jun 25th				@ TB	Casey Legumina
Thu, Jul 9th				@ NYM	Sean Manaea (2-5)	#81
Sat, Jul 18th				vs SD	Griffin Canning (1-8)	#171
Thu, Jul 23rd				@ DET	Troy Melton (5-1)	#95
Thu, Aug 6th				vs MIN
Thu, Aug 20th				vs ATH

Who Should I Trade?

Eric Lauer for Steven Cruz (2026)

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