The Washington Nationals are in a funk right now. After getting to 4 games above .500 during this month and riding a seemingly unbelievable high, they have started to scuffle a bit over the last week. They dropped 2 out of 3 on the road in a hard-fought series to the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the best teams in baseball, and then turned around and dropped 3 out of 4 to the Philadelphia Phillies at home.
On Friday, the Nationals were trying to turn their luck around in the weekend series opener to the Baltimore Orioles, but ended up falling by a score of 3-1 at Camden Yards. Surprisingly enough, their bullpen only allowed 1 earned run on Friday, which is as positive a sign as we have seen from the unit in what feels like an eternity. Their continued struggles are a huge reason why Paul Toboni is continuing to take chances on new relievers outside the organization.
Nationals grab Justin Lawrence off waivers from Twins
Already the second time that Paul Toboni has poached a player off waivers from the Minnesota Twins since taking the job after Mickey Gasper during the offseason, the Nationals went out and grabbed veteran righty Justin Lawrence off the wire. The 31-year-old righty is a bit of a wild pitcher, and there is a reason why he is now on his 4th organization in just 3 years.
His career numbers are not great, with just a 5.37 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over 239.2 innings, but he is a guy who misses a lot of bats overall. Last season was easily his best as a pro, as he appeared in 17 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched to a miniscule 0.51 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, striking out 23 batters while walking just 8 over 17.2 innings. However, due to the rest of his career, that seems more like an extreme outlier rather than a future indicator of success.
Lawrence began this season running it back with Pittsburgh, but was later traded to the Twins in exchange for cash. After a rough 7 game stint with the Twins, Lawrence now finds himself on the move again to Washington, where he will wait in the wings down in AAA Rochester. However, at the rate things are going for Nationals relievers, he very well could get a shot soon.
What do you think of the Nationals claiming Justin Lawrence off waivers? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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