Former Pirates reliever is already out after nightmare stint with new club

Justin Lawrence’s time away from the Pittsburgh Pirates did not exactly become a revenge tour.

Less than a month after the Pirates designated the veteran right-hander for assignment, Lawrence is already back in roster limbo. The Minnesota Twins DFA'd him after a brutal stint that lasted just six innings over seven appearances.

Lawrence's final outing with Minnesota was the breaking point, as he was charged with five runs in just two-thirds of an inning during the Twins’ 16-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That pushed his ERA with Minnesota to an unsightly 18.00.

Lawrence had already struggled badly with the Pirates before they cut ties, posting a 5.32 ERA over 22 innings. But his Major League experience, funky delivery and past success were enough for Minnesota to take a shot when Pittsburgh placed him on waivers. It didn't take long for that gamble to collapse.

The Twins needed a roster spot for left-hander Kendry Rojas, who returned from the injured list after missing about a month with triceps inflammation. Lawrence became the casualty, and it's hard to argue with the decision given how quickly his results spiraled.

Justin Lawrence's second DFA in less than a month validates Pirates' decision to move on

From a Pirates perspective, the bigger takeaway here isn't that they misread Lawrence, but rather, that they were relying on arms like Lawrence in the first place.

Pittsburgh’s bullpen has been one of the most frustrating areas of the roster this season, not just because of individual blowups, but because of the constant churn around the margins. Lawrence was part of that cycle. The Pirates brought him in hoping he could stabilize a relief group that has needed help, but instead he became another short-term patch who failed to stick.

To be fair, relievers are volatile. Teams take chances on struggling arms all the time, and sometimes those bets pay off. But Lawrence’s post-Pirates collapse makes it difficult to frame his departure as anything other than a necessary move.

Lawrence struggled in Pittsburgh, struggled even more with the Twins and is now facing his second DFA in less than four weeks. The Pirates may have plenty of roster decisions worth second-guessing, but moving on from this struggling reliever certainly isn't one of them.

But Lawrence’s collapse does still say something about Pittsburgh’s larger problem. The Pirates can't afford to keep cycling through disposable bullpen pieces and hoping enough of them survive. Moving on from Lawrence was the right call, but the more revealing issue is that they were relying on him to be part of the solution in the first place.

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