How underrated Pirates reliever has left Rockies struggles in the dust

Justin Lawrence has had a career resurgence in Year 5 after being designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies in early March.

Lawrence started his career in Coors Field, where he played four seasons and posted an ERA of 5.43 in nearly 200 innings of work for the Rockies. In three of his four seasons, he underperformed, posting a sub-82 adjusted ERA in each of those three tough seasons. Regardless of playing his home games in a hitter-friendly park, his stats were very bad.

Although he struggled as a whole in Colorado, he did have one great season in 2023, posting career bests in ERA (3.72), adjusted ERA (134), WAR (1.3) and strikeouts (78). This may have been what Pirates GM Ben Cherington saw in the right-hander, because Lawrence followed up that season with possibly his worst, and was designated for assignment by the Rockies that offseason.

Justin Lawrence is playing the best ball of his career since arriving in Pittsburgh with the Pirates

Just 10 games and 10.2 innings into his 2025 season, Lawrence has been outstanding for the Bucs. In those innings, Lawrence has given up just one run, five hits, and four walks.

He sits just behind Joey Wentz and Caleb Ferguson in bullpen innings pitched for the Pirates, but is second on the entire roster in WAR, just behind Andrew Heaney. He also leads all Pirates relievers in punchouts, racking up 14 strikeouts in just 40 batters faced.

Lawrence is on pace, if he can stay healthy, to post a slew of career highs this season. He is on pace for a career-high 75.1 innings pitched, will likely crush his strikeout high from 2023 with 98 Ks, and is ticketed for just 28 walks, second to his rookie season when he pitched just 16.2 innings.

The right-hander is benefiting from a Pirates bullpen that has been performing fairly well as of late. The Pirates' bullpen, after a shaky start, is up to 13th in the MLB in bullpen ERA and sixth in the National League at 3.64.

Ferguson, Wentz, and Dennis Santana are all off to great starts, posting ERAs of 1.64, 2.13, and 1.80, respectively. This is a drastic year-over-year change from Lawrence's Rockies team last season, which posted a league-worst 5.41 ERA among their relief pitchers.

During media availability after joining the Bucs, Lawrence was asked about the Pirates' talented pitching staff and if they make this opportunity more exciting for him.

"Yeah, the young guys are a really exciting group," said Lawrence in March. "You see, Jared Jones, you see Paul, the way that they go out there, they look like veterans, but they're young guys. It's a good group of guys."

Lawrence is looking good through his first 10 appearances with the Bucs, and looks to dominate in relief for those young guys all season long.