Eric Lauer will be on the bump for Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener versus the Philadelphia Phillies, the Toronto Blue Jays announced Thursday.

The 30-year-old southpaw will open the club’s exhibition schedule at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., as he continues his spring training starter’s build-up. It hasn’t been announced which pitchers will follow him out of the bullpen, but he’s expected to throw multiple innings in the opener — also featuring third baseman Kazuma Okamoto’s spring debut — against the Phillies.

Lauer, who lost his arbitration case against the Blue Jays earlier this month and will earn $4.4 million this season, is competing for the fifth starter’s job and multi-inning reliever role this spring. The veteran lefty is probably best served to return to the bullpen in 2026, but will also serve as injury protection for the rotation if José Berríos claims that final spot.

This will be Lauer’s first chance to showcase himself to Toronto’s staff after impressing across multiple roles last season, posting a 3.18 ERA and 3.85 FIP with a career-high 17.8 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate (K-BB%) in 28 games (15 starts).

The club also announced that prospect Fernando Perez will start Sunday’s road contest versus the Boston Red Sox, as manager John Schneider revealed. The 22-year-old righty, who finished last season as the franchise’s No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline, wrapped up his 2025 campaign with six starts at Double-A.

Perez split the year between High-A Vancouver and New Hampshire, pitching to a 3.04 ERA and 3.20 FIP with a 15.3 per cent K-BB% across 26 starts in his fourth professional season. It’ll be an important year for the native of Nicaragua, who’ll become Rule 5-eligible next off-season.

Last spring, the Blue Jays finished exhibition play atop the Grapefruit League standings at 18-10, unofficially winning the Golden Grapefruit, as playfully coined by MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.