Pirates Reactivate High-Leverage Reliever After Long IL Stay

Pirates Reactivate Justin Lawrence from IL

Lawrence and fellow Pirates reliever Tim Mayza had both been on the IL since April. When Mayza completed his rehab assignment, he was promptly waived on August 31 and picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies. Observers who remembered that Lawrence was a Pirate may have expected a similar fate for him, but the situations are different. Mayza can be a free agent after this season. Lawrence has no free agency rights until 2029. Furthermore, Lawrence was effective in high-leverage roles in his brief time. Not that Mayza was terrible, however. Mayza posted a 2.89 ERA and 1.071 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh. Strangely, however, then-manager Derek Shelton didn’t seem to trust Mayza. Shelton never turned to Mayza in a high-leverage situation. Mayza was the fourth left-hander in a left-hander-heavy bullpen, bypassed even for Joey Wentz. He never got to pitch for current Pirates manager Don Kelly.

Neither did Lawrence, but under Shelton, he was frequently thrown into the fire. The Pirates claimed Lawrence after the Colorado Rockies waived him on March 3. Lawrence’s Pirates career didn’t get off to a great start. On March 29 in Miami, he gave up a run in the seventh inning and was charged with a blown save as the Marlins won in 12 innings. (The “blown save” to a middle reliever is an unfair stat. Surely, Shelton didn’t bring him to earn a three-inning save that day.) That was the last and only run Lawrence gave up in 2025, however. He pitched in 10 more games before his injury, earning a win and three “holds.” After four years in Colorado, when he posted a 5.43 ERA and 1.613 WHIP, as a Pirate, those numbers were 0.79 and 0.971, respectively, in 11-1/3 innings.

Another Look

Of course, those stats were the result of a small sample size. Even so, one can understand the Pirates wanting a second look at Lawrence. He’s eligible for arbitration next season, and the Pirates must decide whether to tender him a contract. He didn’t put up great stats during his recent rehab assignment. At two levels, he had an 8.59 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 7-1/3 innings. Again, that, too, is a small sample size, and the important thing was getting ready to pitch at the major league level. He cleared his final hurdle this week by pitching in consecutive games.

Although he earned a save this month, this season has been nothing short of a disaster for Holderman. This would seem to end his time with the Pirates for 2025, and perhaps forever. If so, he ends the 2025 season with an 0-2 record, 7.01 ERA, 5.87 FIP, and 1.948 WHIP.