The Los Angeles Dodgers changed their plan for Monday’s game against the Twins and named Will Klein as the opener, with Eric Lauer now expected to handle the bulk innings behind him. The move came before the series opener in Minnesota, where the Dodgers also reinstated Brock Stewart from the injured list and optioned Chayce McDermott.
The adjustment matters because the Dodgers entered the three-game series trying to stop a two-game skid while holding a 49-29 record and a nine-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres. The Twins had won seven of their past nine games, so the matchup carried a sharper edge than a typical early-summer opener.
Lauer was the scheduled starter before the Dodgers switched course and went with Klein at the front of the game. Lauer has worked as a more than serviceable sixth starter for Los Angeles amid rotation injuries to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, and he has given the club a 3.22 ERA across 22.1 innings with 14 strikeouts and five walks. Before joining the Dodgers, he had a 6.69 ERA across 36.1 innings with the Toronto Blue Jays before being designated for assignment.
The roster move on the pitching side also altered the shape of the staff. Stewart had appeared in two games this year and thrown two shutout innings with three strikeouts, while McDermott was sent down after allowing two runs over 1.1 innings on Sunday. Stewart’s return gives the Dodgers another live arm, but the immediate job in Minnesota belongs to Klein, with Lauer set to come in once the opener portion ends.
That makes Monday less about a single name at the top of the card than about how the Dodgers want to manage a game in motion. They changed the script before first pitch, and the next answer will come from whether Klein can get the early outs that let Lauer take over on stable ground.
