Justin Lawrence #61

Justin Anthony Lawrence...Son of Lionel and Elizabeth...Has two siblings, Stacey and Giancarlo...Born in Panama but grew up primarily in Florida...Married to Taylor...The pair reside in Scottsdale, Ariz. during the offseason with their four adopted cats, Henri, Oliver, Bridget and William...Welcomed their first child, Leighton, in May of 2024...Attended Jacksonville University in 2014, where he became a side-armer as a freshman two-way player...Studied biology...Transferred to Daytona State Junior College in 2015, playing first base and pitching...Committed to Oklahoma State University before signing with the Rockies in 2015...Graduated from First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Fla.

2024

Second straight season with 50 or more appearances, going 4-4 with a 6.49 ERA (59.2 IP, 43 ER), 45 strikeouts, 33 walks and two saves...His 6.49 ERA was the second-highest among qualified Major League relievers...Made his third consecutive Opening Day roster...Allowed 17 of 38 inherited runners to score, a 44.7% rate that was the sixth-highest in the Majors and the eighth-highest rate in Rockies history...52.1 groundball percentage tied his career high set in 2021...13th-highest mark among NL relievers (min. 50 IP)...Held a 2.40 ERA (15.0 IP, 4 ER) from April 6-May 15...Posted a 7.27 ERA (43.1 IP, 35 ER) in 40 games for the remainder of the season...No earned runs in 39 of his 56 outings...Allowed multiple runs in 16 of the 23 games he was scored upon, including a career-high-tying five earned runs allowed on Sept. 28 vs. Los Angeles-NL...Placed on the injured list on May 27 with a strained right shoulder, his first stint on a Major League IL...On the paternity list May 3-6.

2023

Set career highs in games (69), innings (75.0), saves (11) and strikeouts (78) while going 4-7 with a 3.72 ERA (75.0 IP, 31 ER) in his first full Major League season...Made his second Opening Day roster...His 69 relief appearances were tied for the ninth-most in the National League…75.0 innings of relief tied for ninth in the Majors and tied for sixth in the NL...3.72 ERA (75.0 IP, 31 ER) was the second-lowest among qualified Rockies pitchers…11 saves were a career-high and the second-most for the club behind Pierce Johnson’s 13...In 38 appearances in the first half, posted a 2.76 ERA (45.2 IP, 14 ER) with opponents slashing .188/.284/.269 (.553 OPS), the fourth-lowest ERA among MLB relievers…pitched to a 5.22 clip (29.1 IP, 17 ER) in 31 second half outings and allowed opponents to slash .299/.400/.470 (.870 OPS)...First half opponent OPS was the 11th-lowest in the Majors (fifth in NL) while his second half OPS ranked as the sixth-highest (second in NL)...Allowed nine of 43 inherited runners to score, a 20.9 IRS% that ranked as the sixth-lowest in the Majors (third in NL)...43 inherited runners tied for the 10th-most in the Majors (third-most in the NL)...Seventh-lowest IRS% in franchise history (min. 40 IR), the lowest since Randy Flores in 2010 (20%, 50/10)...Along with teammate Jake Bird (84.1 IP), became the first pair of Rockies relievers (min. 95% games of relief) to toss at least 75.0 innings in a season since Adam Ottavino (78.1) and Wilton López (75.1) in 2013…seventh time overall in franchise history...Selected to play for Team Panama in the 2023 World Baseball Classic…struck out three batters in two appearances (2.0 IP) while not allowing a baserunner.

2022

Made the Rockies Opening Day roster for the first time in his career...Went 3-1 with a 5.70 ERA (42.2 IP, 27 ER), 22 walks, 48 strikeouts and one save across 38 appearances...Optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on May 7...served five additional stints with Colorado, including one as the 27th man (May 17-26, June 11 (27th man), July 4-6, July 26-29 and Aug. 13-end of season)...Recorded his first Major League save on Oct. 2, tossing a scoreless ninth inning at Dodger Stadium...In 18 outings at Coors Field, was 3-0 with a 6.75 ERA (21.1 IP, 16 ER), eight walks and 24 strikeouts...0-1 with a 4.64 ERA (21.1 IP, 11 ER), 14 walks and 24 strikeouts in 20 games on the road...Posted a 3.07 ERA (29.1 IP, 10 ER), 13 walks and 49 strikeouts in 28 games with Albuquerque...scoreless through his final 10 Triple-A appearances.

2021

Made 19 total appearances, 10 of them scoreless, across six stints on Colorado’s active roster, including one stint as the 27th man...1-0 with an 8.64 ERA (16.2 IP, 16 ER) with 19 walks and 17 strikeouts … two holds and one blown save...Took his first Major League win on July 4 vs. St. Louis after tossing a scoreless ninth inning...Struck out a career-high four batters in his third appearance of two innings on June 27 in Milwaukee...Went 6-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 31 relief outings for Triple-A Albuquerque, recording 13 saves over 32.1 innings, while striking out 30 and walking 12 … held opponents scoreless 20 times...Through his first 14 games with the Isotopes, went 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA (15.1 IP, 3 ER) … posted a 7.41 ERA (17.0 IP, 14 ER) through his last 17 appearances.

2020

Placed on the restricted list and received an 80-game suspension on Jan. 17, 2020, after violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

2019

Split the season between Double-A Hartford and Triple-A Albuquerque, his first experience at both levels...Combined at both levels, went 1-5 with an 8.76 ERA (37.0 IP, 36 ER) across 38 appearances...Began the season with Albuquerque, making eight relief appearances in April before being placed on the injured list on April 30, retroactive to April 29 … went 1-1 with an 8.71 ERA (10.1 IP, 10 ER) with the Isotopes...Made his next appearance June 5 as a member of Hartford … made 30 appearances with the Yard Goats and went 0-4 with an 8.78 ERA (26.2 IP, 26 ER)...Received his first invite to Major League Spring Training … made seven appearances and allowed four runs across 7.1 innings (4.91 ERA) with four walks and nine strikeouts.

2018

Was named a California League Mid-Season All-Star, his first career All-Star nod ... Made a career-high 55 relief appearances for High-A Lancaster, notching 11 saves in 15 opportunities with a 2.65 ERA (54.1 IP, 16 ER), 27 walks and 62 strikeouts … held opponents to a .188 batting average ... Went 3-8 with a 5.06 ERA (96.0 IP, 54 ER), 34 walks and 80 strikeouts in 21 starts with Triple-A Albuquerque ... Named a Rising Star in the Arizona Fall League … in 10 relief appearances, logged three saves with a 3.38 ERA (10.2 IP, 4 ER), six walks and 13 strikeouts.

2017

Made 16 appearances and recorded six saves for Low-A Asheville before year-ending surgery ... Scored upon three times in his 16 appearances, allowing three earned runs in 16.1 innings pitched (1.65 ERA) ... Made his last appearance on May 15 … placed on the disabled list on May 18.

2016

Split the season between Short-Season Boise and Low-A Asheville, going a combined 4-6 with a 4.98 ERA (65.0 IP, 36 ER) in 49 relief appearances ... Went 2-1 with eight saves and a 2.20 ERA (28.2 IP, 7 ER) in 23 appearances with Boise … his eight saves were tied for the second-most in the Northwest League behind teammate Julian Fernandez.

2015

Began his professional career with Short-Season Boise, before finishing the season with Rookie Level Grand Junction ... In 22 combined appearances between the two stops, went 0-3 with a 8.39 ERA (24.2 IP, 23 ER) ... Appeared in 16 games with Boise before being assigned to Grand Junction, Aug. 23.