After long road back from injury, Pirates RHP Justin Lawrence seeks strong finish

It would have been unsurprising to see Pittsburgh Pirates righty Justin Lawrence, who hadn’t pitched since late April, eased back onto the mound upon being activated from the 60-day injured list Friday.

Instead, manager Don Kelly threw Lawrence directly into the fire, inserting him Sunday at Washington with the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lawrence, 30, delivered, tossing a scoreless frame in a game the Pirates ultimately lost.

“We play so many tight games on the road (that) the on-ramp sometimes you can’t script and make sure that it’s a soft landing, so to speak, in easing him back in,” Kelly said. “I think it speaks to his experience and what he was able to do on the road in a tie game that he’s been there and closed games before. He was able to handle that situation.”

Lawrence threw 13 of his 19 pitches for strikes in his first outing since April 22, allowing a hit and a walk and striking out Paul DeJong.

“Felt good,” Lawrence said of his appearance. “I was very happy with my misses. They were small misses, and that’s something that I really focused on during the rehab process — try to get rid of the uncompetitive pitches and get ahead of hitters early.”

Added Kelly: “It seemed to be coming out of his hand really well.”

To say Lawrence’s rehabilitation was extensive would be an understatement.

Because of elbow inflammation in his throwing arm, Lawrence first landed on the injured list April 24. Less than two weeks later, he was transferred to the 60-day injured list, where he’d remained for the vast majority of the season.

Eventually, rehab assignments with Low-A Bradenton and Triple-A Indianapolis commenced, but for months, Lawrence navigated the frustration of being out.

Taking things day by day helped Lawrence overcome his long recovery process.

“I didn’t have the day that I was coming back circled on the calendar,” Lawrence said. “For me, it was, ‘What’s our focus these next few days? What’s our goal at the end of the week? Is it a bullpen? A live (batting practice)? Is it a minor-league game?’ Making small goals — they’re closer and more attainable. It’s easier to focus on the next three days than it is the next three months. I broke it up that way to really stay locked in.”

In addition, he had a partner in crime of sorts as his rehab lined up almost identically to fellow pitcher Tim Mayza, who went down April 19 and was released by the Pirates on Aug. 30.

“We literally were on the same program,” Lawrence said. “Same bullpens, live BPs, minor-league games — we were on the same schedule the entire way through. Having Tim with me every day really made things a lot easier, and I think he would say the same, just to have each other, bounce ideas off each other and keep the mental sanity there.”

It isn’t lost on Lawrence that the vast majority of this season has been irretrievably lost as a result of his injury.

But before his campaign was derailed, Lawrence was looking like a pretty solid pickup by the Pirates, having been added via the waiver wire in early March after spending his entire MLB career from 2021-24 with the Colorado Rockies.

After allowing a run March 29, his first outing with the Pirates, Lawrence delivered 10 straight scoreless appearances leading into his injury.

When he was sidelined, Lawrence had a 0.79 ERA through 11 games, with 15 strikeouts and six walks.

So, despite there being only two weeks left in the Pirates’ season, Lawrence sees a lot to gain from closing things out on a strong note, akin to what he did in April.

In his eyes, he could be auditioning for a role in 2026.

“It’s being able to bolster that bullpen a little bit and give some guys some rest that have been doing it all year long,” Lawrence said. “I’ve got to go in there and pick up a guy for an inning or two, being able to do that, and then just getting outs.

“Just proving to the organization that I’m the same guy I was pre-injury. Missed a big part of this year obviously, but I’m healthy, I’m strong and I can come back and do the same thing next year.”