Pirates Claim Justin Lawrence

The Pirates have claimed right-hander Justin Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Colorado placed Lawrence on waivers over the weekend. The Bucs haven’t formally announced the claim and will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Lawrence once the transaction becomes official.

Lawrence, 30, agreed to a $975K salary earlier this offseason when he avoided arbitration. The Pirates will take on that salary and hope to coax a rebound effort out of the right-hander. Lawrence was roughed up for a brutal 6.49 earned run average in 2024 but was a quality late-inning arm for the Rox in 2023, saving 11 games and picking up 11 holds en route to a 3.72 ERA.

The 6’3″ Lawrence has shown the ability to miss bats and generate grounders in the past, though command has long been an issue. He fanned 24% of his opponents and posted a 48.5% ground-ball rate for Colorado during that strong 2023 season while sitting 95.4 mph on his sinker and 83.8 mph on his slider. Both pitches lost 0.8 mph in 2024, however, and Lawrence saw his strikeout rate plummet to 16.1% while his already problematic 11% walk rate crept up to 11.8%.

Lawrence did post a career-high 53.1% ground-ball rate, and he was far better on the road than at Coors Field, as most would expect. He was tagged for a disastrous 8.49 ERA in Denver compared to a more palatable 4.50 mark on the road. He had pronounced home-road splits in 2023 as well: 5.40 at Coors Field and 1.62 when the Rockies were away. Over the past two seasons, Lawrence has a 6.69 ERA at Coors Field and a 2.98 mark on the road.

The Pirates won’t be able to send Lawrence to Triple-A. He’s out of minor league options. As such, he’s now a virtual lock to make the Opening Day bullpen, barring an injury. With last year’s poor results and several other arms ahead of him on the bullpen pecking order, Lawrence probably won’t jump right into high-leverage work. He could certainly pitch his way into that role, as he did in ’23, but Pittsburgh will likely hope for a David Bednar rebound in the ninth inning with Colin Holderman, Dennis Santana and Carmen Mlodzinski all setting up. Lefties Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza, both signed as free agents, give skipper Derek Shelton at least two southpaw options. Joey Wentz, Kyle Nicolas, Chase Shugart and Peter Strzelecki are all on the 40-man roster as well. Wentz and Strzelecki are out of options. Notable non-roster invitees to camp include Ryan Borucki, Tanner Rainey, Burch Smith and Hunter Stratton.