SAN DIEGO — In his first afternoon as a Los Angeles Dodger, Eric Lauer spent some time in left field reflecting on the reminders of his past. He was back in the ballpark where he made his major league debut eight seasons ago. Lauer’s onboarding process with his new team included a conversation with Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior, who was Lauer’s minor league pitching coordinator when he was coming up through the San Diego Padres’ system.“It was kind of like a full circle moment for us,” Lauer said on Tuesday as he began what he called a “fresh start.”Lauer is here out of necessity, a byproduct of the Dodgers’ starting rotation depth that has crumbled since the calendar flipped to May.The club did not have a single pitcher miss a turn through the rotation in April before Tyler Glasnow went down with back spasms, and before Blake Snell lasted just one start and needed elbow surgery. The Dodgers traded for Lauer, whom the Toronto Blue Jays designated for assignment six months after the left-hander was pitching against Los Angeles in the World Series.Lauer is penciled in to make his first start for the Dodgers next Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies, though manager Dave Roberts said he will be available as length out of the bullpen as early as Wednesday.He is the rotation insurance the Dodgers didn’t know they’d need. This could also be the change of scenery that Lauer wanted after he posted a 6.69 ERA in his first eight appearances (six starts) this season. The Dodgers see something in Lauer, who, last season, had a 3.18 ERA while shifting between the rotation and bullpen in Toronto.That was before Lauer’s velocity dipped from 91.7 mph in 2025 to 90.4 mph this year. That will be some of the Dodgers’ focus with him, general manager Brandon Gomes said.