Lawrence (1-0) picked up the win in Wednesday's 2-1 extra-innings win over the Cardinals, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out two over 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
The former Rockie has had a strong start to his first season at a lower altitude. Through his first six appearances as a Pirate, Lawrence has a 1.35 ERA and 9:4 K:BB in 6.2 innings, adding a hold to Wednesday's win. With David Bednar trying to work things out at Triple-A and Colin Holderman (knee) on the shelf, Lawrence is Pittsburgh's top high-leverage option from the right side behind current closer Dennis Santana.
The Pirates claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies on Monday, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.
Lawrence posted a 6.49 ERA and saw his strikeout rate dip to just 16.1 percent and sinker velocity fall to 94.6 mph on average in 2024. However, he had an above-average 24.4 percent strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023 and his sweeper has been a very effective pitch at times. Lawrence is under team control through 2028 and the Pirates felt he was worth a roll of the dice.
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Rockies' Justin Lawrence: Placed on waivers
Rotowire
The Rockies placed Lawrence on waivers Saturday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Lawrence regressed notably last season, finishing the year with a 6.49 ERA and 1.78 WHIP over 59.2 innings. He is now available to be picked up by any team willing to bring him in as additional bullpen depth, though he's still eligible to pitch for Colorado while on waivers.
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Rockies' Justin Lawrence: Adjusting grip on sweeper
Rotowire
Lawrence changed the grip on his sweeper this offseason, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
Lawrence entered 2024 as one of Colorado's better relievers, but he struggled to a 6.49 ERA and 1.78 WHIP across 59.2 innings and quickly lost his role as closer. He consulted with pitching experts at Rapsodo Baseball this offseason, who determined that Lawrence was releasing the ball off of his index finger rather than his middle finger when throwing a sweeper. With the adjustment, Lawrence is hoping to regain his 2023 form that resulted in 11 saves and 11 holds.
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Rockies' Justin Lawrence: Settles with Rox
Rotowire
Lawrence to a one-year, $975,000 contract with the Rockies on Thursday to avoid arbitration, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
Lawrence struggled mightily in 2024, finishing with a 6.49 ERA and 1.78 WHIP over 59.2 innings out of the bullpen. Playing his home games at Coors Field could be partially to blame for his poor performance, but fantasy managers would likely be better off staying away from Lawrence until he proves his solid 2023 campaign (during which he had a 3.72 ERA with 11 saves) wasn't simply an outlier.
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