The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander Justin Lawrence off waivers from the Twins. Minnesota designated him for assignment a few days ago. In a corresponding move, the Nats designated right-hander Jhancarlos Lara for assignment. Lawrence is out of options and will need an active roster spot once he reports to the team.
Lawrence, 31, has enticing stuff but hasn’t been able to turn that into good results yet. His four-seamer and sinker average in the upper 90s and he also features a low-80s sweeper. But in 239 2/3 career innings, he has allowed 5.37 earned runs per nine.
A good chunk of that workload came with the Rockies, which means the usual Coors Field asterisks apply. Lawrence was drafted by the Rockies and was with them through 2024. The Pirates gave him a new home in 2025 and his first stretch of play away from Colorado was quite encouraging. He put up 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 help from a 94.7% strand rate but he struck out a third of batters faced in that small sample and induced grounders on 47.2% of balls in play. His 11.6% walk rate was high but that was nothing new for him.
He hasn’t been able to carry things forward into 2026. He struggled out of the gate with the Bucs and was designated for assignment in May. He was traded to the Twins for cash but, as mentioned, got designated for assignment again recently. Between the two clubs, he has an 8.04 ERA in 28 innings.
That’s obviously a scary number but it surely exaggerates how poor Lawrence’s season has been. His .329 batting average on balls in play and 56.5% strand rate are both far to the unfortunate side. 27.6% of the fly balls he has allowed have cleared the fence, a number that won’t hold over a larger sample. The league-wide number is 11.5% and no qualified pitcher finished last year above 17.2%. Lawrence has an awful 14.5% walk rate but is striking out 25.5% of opponents. His 4.21 SIERA feels he could be a serviceable pitcher with more neutral favor from the baseball gods.
The Nationals have one of the worst bullpens in the majors. Washington relievers have a collective 4.93 earned run average, putting them ahead of just the Athletics, Rockies and Twins. Some of that is skewed by the use of openers but the Nats clearly have room for improvement back there. They will take a shot on Lawrence and see if his results improve. If they don’t, Lawrence could be slated to be designated for assignment again, given his out-of-options status.
Lara, 23, was just claimed off waivers less than two weeks ago. He’s even more of a stuff-over-results bet than Lawrence. Lara still hasn’t made his major league debut but he has also shown upper-90s velocity in the minors. That has led to some strikeouts but also mountains of walks. He has thrown 279 innings in his minor league career with a 5.03 ERA, 29.2% strikeout rate and 17.6% walk rate.
Atlanta added him to their roster in September of last year, though he didn’t get to make an appearance. 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 the awful control, perhaps another club will make a bet on the arm. If he were to clear waivers, the Nats could keep him as non-roster depth. He doesn’t have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service time, so he would not have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
