BRADENTON, Fla. -- Justin Lawrence first started to experiment with his arm slot his freshman year of college with Jacksonville University. He was a stock right-hander who was throwing over the top and not getting a ton of playing time, so he got creative and became a sidearmer. He grew into velocity the next year, and a sidearm unicorn was born.
The Pirates claimed Lawrence, a four-year vet and part-time Rockies closer in 2023, on Monday, giving them another arm with late-inning experience and a unique release point. Going by Baseball Savant data, his average arm angle was -2 degrees. In the Statcast era, only six pitchers have had an arm slot of 0 degrees or lower and hit 95 mph on the radar gun. Lawrence has thrown 774 pitches in his career that meet those qualifications. The next most is former Pirate Austin Brice with three.
There¡¯s a lot to like about Lawrence¡¯s game, whether it¡¯s the unique arm angle, his experience or his high-spin sweeper. There¡¯s also a reason why the Pirates were able to grab him off waivers this week. While he was the Rockies¡¯ top reliever in 2023, he struggled mightily in '24, recording a 6.49 ERA over 59 2/3 innings.
There are reasons to believe he could have a bounce-back season, such as:
1. A season away from Coors Field
This is kind of a no-brainer. Coors Field is a hitters' paradise, and Lawrence struggled there last season. On the road, hitters had a .747 OPS against him, compared to a 1.017 OPS at home. Even in 2023, he was drastically better on the road (.827 OPS allowed at Coors, .493 OPS everywhere else).
"Yeah, the back of the baseball card isn't pretty,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°But I've learned so much from pitching in Denver. I've learned how to adapt when things are going tough. You¡¯ve got to make adjustments, and Denver's a place that I had to make a lot of adjustments in order to stay there as along as I did. At times it was hard, at times it was good. I'm sure there may be stretches here at sea level or PNC, wherever it is, that make it tough -- of those adjustments that I've made in Denver, and the things that I've learned there, or things that I'm bringing with me over here."
2. The sweeper plays
Batters hit just .182 against Lawrence¡¯s sweeper last year, with a healthy 30.8% whiff rate. In 2023, he held hitters to a .146 average with that pitch. A pitch that can hold hitters to under a buck-50 at Coors Field is worth a look.
Whether it¡¯s upping its usage or using it in new spots, Lawrence's sweeper gets plenty of movement and can miss bats.
¡°I mean, if you look metrically at the sweeper, it's one of the best in the game,¡± Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. ¡° ¡ That stuff doesn't grow on trees.¡±
¡°It's really just a pitch that I threw from that [arm] slot, and it's a pitch that kind of put me on the map,¡± Lawrence said.
3. The new fastball
Lawrence was a sinker-first pitcher with the Rockies, and it was at the heart of his struggles last year. There¡¯s really no other way to slice a .392 batting average against, after all.
He¡¯s been experimenting with a four-seamer though, which could help. It¡¯s not a replacement for what he¡¯s thrown for years (especially since the sweeper¡¯s spin mirrors the sinker¡¯s, which helps him tunnel the two offerings), but having a pitch that can land in the upper-third of the zone and give him another potential strikeout option could help.
¡°I've thrown it a lot more this spring in bullpen sessions, live BPs and stuff like that,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°So, [it¡¯s] something I'm looking forward to showing the coaching staff here and seeing how we can add that to the arsenal."
Time will tell if those breaks go his way and if this could be a quality waiver pickup, like Dennis Santana was in 2024. One thing that is for sure is that Lawrence is ready to introduce himself to Pittsburgh.
"Man, they're just getting a competitor,¡± Lawrence said. ¡°They're getting just an athlete on the mound that's going to do anything and everything he can to help this team win as many ballgames as possible."