Unique path, confidence has led Justin Lawrence to key relief role for Pirates

LAKELAND, Fla. — Justin Lawrence was staring at a 3-0 count in the fifth inning Saturday against Tigers catcher Jake Rogers at Joker Marchant Stadium, missing outside with a sweeper and two sinkers.

It was a situation that would’ve consumed the Pirates reliever only a few years ago, where he’d grow frustrated, lose confidence and either issue a walk or give up loud contact.

“I’d get mad at myself and try to angrily throw a strike,” Lawrence said after the Pirates’ 5-3 victory, which raised their Grapefruit League record to 10-5. “Now, I know if I stay within myself in a 3-0 count, I can still make three good pitches.”

The Rogers at-bat offered perfect evidence, as Lawrence stuck with his sinker and ultimately got a ground ball to third base for an out. The entire inning was a lesson for Lawrence, and we’ll get there.

But first, let’s zoom out and examine what the Pirates have in Lawrence, who, in a little over a year with the Pirates, has gone from sidearm-slinging project to one of the most important relievers in their bullpen.

Lawrence was downright unhittable last season when healthy, pitching to a 0.51 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. The sample size was small due to right elbow inflammation, but Lawrence has seen his stuff tick up with the Pirates and his confidence soar.

That was evident later Saturday when Lawrence answered a one-out double to shortstop Zack McKinstry by setting up designated hitter Parker Meadows with a series of sweepers and punching him out with a four-seamer.

Lawrence concluded his afternoon by producing a harmless fly ball to center.

“I don’t know how you couldn’t be confident with that type of stuff,” catcher Henry Davis said.

“I like at-bats like that in spring,” Lawrence added. “You learn from them. You understand that if you get in a jam, you can still get out of it.”

The stuff is what makes Lawrence so attractive, and it’s been especially easy to appreciate this spring. But where does it come from? Where did Lawrence learn to throw like that?

It’s a solid story.

As a freshman at Jacksonville University in 2014, Lawrence didn’t see the field much and described himself as “very stock, 87 to 89 mph, maybe touching 90.” Lawrence wanted something to separate himself.

One day in the bullpen, he began fiddling around with a sidearm delivery.

“I didn’t have the velocity but had some funky movement,” Lawrence said. “I was at a smaller school, so I was like, ‘This could work.’ I talked to the coach. He said, ‘Go for it.’ Ended up seeing the field a lot more that year. That offseason, got a lot stronger. That’s where the velo started creeping up.”

Lawrence and his roommate actually had a velocity competition, which may not have been the healthiest thing to do — 92 turned into 93, then 94 and 95. He topped out at 96 the next year at Daytona State, when he was drafted in the 12th round.

In fact, Lawrence kept getting stronger and building, and actually fired a pitch clocked at 101.2 mph to Asdrubal Cabrera when he made his MLB debut in 2021.

The problem became consistency and confidence, as Lawrence lugged around a 5.43 ERA the previous four years with the Rockies before joining the Pirates.

Those two traits showed up for Lawrence again facing the Tigers, and they frame what he continues to do in Pittsburgh, where he’ll be counted upon to be one of the Pirates’ top back-end options.

“Most of the time you see those [sidearm] guys, they might be touching the upper 80s or low 90s. He’s throwing 98 from there,” Davis said. “I bet you if you polled the league, he’d be at the bottom of the list of comfortable at-bats.”

Davis was being kind. Lawrence doesn’t throw 98. His sinker averaged 95.0 mph in 2025, and that’s fine. It’s still way above average for his style, which he described as “slinging” and not necessarily sidearm.

That experiment in college and the race for velocity was cool, the same for the frisbee-like sweeper he likes to throw. But time has taught Lawrence that it’s about more than his delivery or deception.

“Having the stuff got me to the big leagues,” he said. “But over the course of the years, I’ve learned how to become a pitcher.”

Rivalry renewed

They weren’t the story of the game, but how many times can you recall seeing the two top prospects in the game meet head-to-head? That’s what happened Saturday with Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle, who entered the game midway through as a sub.

Griffin had a little more impact on the game, finishing with a well-struck single in the first inning.

“He’s a fun player,” Griffin said of McGonigle. “It’s fun playing against him.”

The two met a bunch down the stretch last year in Double-A, as games between the Altoona Curve and Erie SeaWolves could often get heated.

“It was good baseball. We were competing, fighting for playoff spots. It was high-level baseball. He’s a great guy to be around, for sure.”

Esmerlyn Valdez and Termarr Johnson drove in runs for the Pirates. Hunter Barco encountered some trouble in the third inning but still struck out three, his new pitch mix at times looking dominant. Thomas Harrington finished the game with four scoreless frames.

Quotable

Before the game, Pirates manager Don Kelly delivered the quote of the day when asked about Oneil Cruz’s 450-foot blast in the World Baseball Classic.

“Did it land yet?” Kelly said. “My goodness, that was unbelievable, wasn’t it? That was a great swing, impressive. He killed that thing.”