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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Justin Lawrence (61) throws a pitch in the sixth inning of the MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Pirates Relief Pitcher Nearing Return From Injury

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Sep 8, 2025 5:30 PM ET

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher is getting closer to his return from injury, which has kept him out most of the season.

Right-handed pitcher Justin Lawrence is currently on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis, that he started on Aug. 26. He has made five appearances so far and is aiming towards a return to the MLB before the end of the season.

Lawrence went on the 15-day injured list on April 23 with right elbow inflammation, with the Pirates then transferring him to the 60-day injured list on May 3.

He began throwing again on June 12, progressed to sides and live sessions, before starting his first rehab assignment with Single-A Bradenton on Aug. 19. He made two appearances, throwing two scoreless innings and posting four strikeouts, before heading to Indianapolis.

Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk praised Lawrence for his work during his rehab and that he's hitting all the benchmarks needed for a return back to the MLB in the near future.

"He’s doing well performance-wise, the velocity and all the metrics have returned to how they were prior to the injury,” Tomczyk said in his latest injury report. They're encouraging and huge shoutout to Justin, because he worked his tail off in Spring Training.

Lawrence recently made back-to-back appearances for the first time on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 with Indianapolis against the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on the road.

He came on in the bottom of the sixth inning on Sept. 4, where he walked Columbus center fielder Kalil Watson, who stole second base and third base and scored on a ground out to tie the game at 2-2. The scorekeeper charged Lawrence with a blown save for that outing.

Lawrence then came in the bottom of the fifth inning on Sept. 5, where he loaded the bases with just one out and right-handed pitcher Chase Shugart replaced him.

All three runners came across and scored in that inning, all charged to Lawrence, who threw 23 pitches.

Todd Tomczyk said prior to those outings that the Pirates wanted Lawrence to do back-to-back outings and that they'd see how he handles them, before they make a plan of when he returns.

“We’re going to see how he recovers after [the back-to-back outings] and then we’ll get with Donnie [Kelly]. Ben [Cherington], Jeremy Bleich and Oscar [Marin[ to see if there’s anything else the pitching department might want to see as far as a multiple-inning, or multiple-up, outing. Still, most importantly, we believe he’s recovering good and pitching at a high level.”

Lawrence excelled with the Pirates out of the bullpen in 2025, with an 0.79 ERA in 11 appearances and 11.1 innings pitched, allowing just five hits and six walks, while posting 15 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .139.

The Pirates claimed Lawrence off of Waivers on March 3, after the Colorado Rockies designated him for assignment on March 1. He pitched in six games in spring training, with an 0-2 record and a 7.50 ERA over 6.0 innings of work.

Pittsburgh currently has a bullpen featuring right-handed pitchers in Colin Holderman, Isaac Mattson, Dauir Moreta, Yohan Ramírez and Dennis Santana, plus left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk.

Right-handed pitchers in rookies, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler, plus Carmen Mlodzinski, have both started and come out of the bullpen in 2025.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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