Pirates' Justin Lawrence: Claimed by Pittsburgh

The Pirates claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies on Monday, Patrick Lyons of JustBaseball.com reports.

Lawrence posted a 6.49 ERA and saw his strikeout rate dip to just 16.1 percent and sinker velocity fall to 94.6 mph on average in 2024. However, he had an above-average 24.4 percent strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023 and his sweeper has been a very effective pitch at times. Lawrence is under team control through 2028 and the Pirates felt he was worth a roll of the dice.