Photo provided by Matt Lynch
This is one in a series breaking down players on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.
One move that seemed to fly under the radar last year at spring training was when the Pirates acquired Justin Lawrence from the Colorado Rockies via waivers. It was somewhat surprising to see Lawrence placed on waivers and Pittsburgh wasted no time to get him in a black and gold uniform.
It was as recently as 2023 that Lawrence had a strong season out of Colorado’s bullpen. The right-hander finished the year with a 3.72 ERA and recorded 11 saves. Lawrence made 69 appearances and struck out 78 batters in 79 innings.
But after a down 2024 season in which Lawrence finished with a 6.49 ERA across 56 appearances, the Rockies decided to cut ties.
The Pirates claimed Lawrence off waivers on March 3 and the 30-year-old made the club’s Opening Day roster out of spring training.
It was a terrific start to the year for Lawrence, who allowed just one run in 11.1 innings across his first 11 appearances with the Pirates including a stretch of 10 straight scoreless outings to begin the season.
But for the first time in his career, Lawrence suffered a longer-term injury that kept him out of action for most of the season. The Pirates placed Lawrence on the 15-day injured list on April 24 with right elbow inflammation and transferred him to the 60-day IL soon after.
Despite the lengthy setback, Lawrence returned to the mound at the end of the season and picked up right where he left off. The Pirates reinstated Lawrence from the IL on Sep. 12 and he finished the year by tossing 6.1-scorless innings and striking out eight batters across six appearances.
Although it was a small sample size, Lawrence more than impressed in his first season in Pittsburgh. After trading closer David Bednar at the trade deadline and uncertainties in the back of the bullpen, the Pirates have a need for high-leverage relievers before the start of next season.
Lawrence is seemingly a candidate to fill that void with Dennis Santana the presumptive closer.
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