The Nationals have announced that they are looking for a right-hander Justin Lawrence without compromising on the Twins. Minnesota picked him up a few days ago. In a related move, the Nats designated a right-hander Jhancarlos Lara by share. Lawrence is out of options and will need an active roster spot once he reports to the team.
Lawrence, 31, has some good looks but hasn’t been able to turn that into good results so far. His four-seamer and sinker averages in the high 90s and he also has a sweep in the low 80s. But in 239 2/3 career innings, he has allowed 5.37 earned runs per nine.
A good portion of that workload has come with the Rockies, which means regular Coors Field stars are active. Lawrence was drafted by the Rockies and had them through 2024. The Pirates gave him a new home in 2025 and his first game away from Colorado was very encouraging. He posted a 0.54 ERA with the Bucs that year, though elbow inflammation limited him to just 17 2/3 innings. He got a lot of assists with a 94.7% average but struck out a third of the batters he faced in a small sample and put a low 47.2% of balls in play. His 11.6% walk rate was high but that was nothing new for him.
He could not take things forward in 2026. He struggled out of the gate with the Bucs and was drafted in May. He was traded to the Twins for cash but, as mentioned, was reassigned recently. Between the two clubs, he has an 8.04 ERA in 28 innings.
Obviously that’s an alarming number but it’s certainly an exaggeration of how bad Lawrence’s season has been. His .329 batting average on balls in play and 56.5% strand rate are both far on the unfortunate side. 27.6% of the fly balls he let clear the fence, a number that would not capture a large sample size. The league-wide rate is 11.5% and no professional pitcher finished last year above 17.2%. Lawrence has a terrible 14.5% walk rate but is striking out 25.5% of opponents. His 4.21 SIERA feels like he could be a serviceable pitcher with neutral tendencies from the baseball gods.
The Nationals have one of the worst bullpens in the majors. The Washington Nurses have a 4.93 cumulative earned run average, which ranks them ahead of the Athletics, Rockies and Twins. One of those inversions is the use of openers but it’s clear that the Nats have room for improvement back there. They will take a shot at Lawrence and see if his results improve. If they don’t, Lawrence could be slated for assignment again, given his lack of options.
Lara, 23, was recently asked to quit two weeks ago. He is betting more on results than Lawrence. Lara has yet to make his league debut but has again shown top speed in the 90s for the minors. That led to a strike but there was a long way to go. He threw 279 innings in his minor league career with a 5.03 ERA, a 29.2% strikeout rate and a 17.6% walk rate.
Atlanta added him to their roster in September of last year, though he never showed up. He was designated for assignment earlier this month and claimed by the Nats. He will likely be on the waiver wire again in the coming days. Despite bad control, maybe another club will bet on the arm. If he were to clear waivers, the Nats could keep him with undrafted depth. He has no prior work experience and is just shy of three years of service time, so he will not be eligible for free agency.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
