Brian Lawrence

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**Brian Lawrence**
Major League Baseball debut
Colorado Rockies — No. 50
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
April 15, 2001 for the San Diego Padres
Selected MLB statistics (through October 1, 2006)
Wins - Losses	49 - 61
ERA	4.11
Strikeouts	579
Former teams
San Diego Padres (2001-2005)

Brian Michael Lawrence (born May 14, 1976, in Fort Collins, Colorado) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who currently plays for the Colorado Rockies. Lawrence stands at 6'0" tall and weighs 195 pounds. He bats and throws right-handed.

[edit] Playing career

Lawrence was selected by the San Diego Padres out of the Northwestern State University of Louisiana in the 17th round of the MLB amateur draft in 1998. After spending the rest of that year at the rookie and short-season Class A levels of the Padres' organization, he played a full season in 1999 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, finishing with a 12-8 record and a 3.39 ERA. He split the 2000 season between the Class AA Mobile BayBears and the Class AAA Las Vegas 51s, and was in the major leagues by the end of the 2001 season, going 5-5 with a 3.45 ERA in 27 games (15 starts) for the Padres.

The 2001 season was the only one in which the Padres used him extensively in a relief role. By 2002, he had established himself in the Padres' starting rotation, and he made at least 31 starts with the Padres in each of the next four seasons. For three consecutive years - 2002 to 2004 - he logged more than 200 innings pitched, and he won at least ten games in each of those seasons.

On June 12, 2002, Lawrence struck out three batters on nine pitches in the third inning of a 2-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Lawrence became the 24th National League pitcher and the 33rd pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning. However, in 2005, his record was just 7-15, and his ERA 4.83 - his highest-ever ERA in the majors.

That offseason, the Padres traded Lawrence to the Washington Nationals for third baseman Vinny Castilla. The righty would never have an opportunity to take the mound in Washington. Following his first day of spring training for the 2006 season, team doctors discovered a torn labrum and a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder shelving the righty for all of 2006. The Nationals subsequently declined their 2007 option on Lawrence that October.

The five year veteran, with 934 career innings pitched, continues to recover from his surguries. He was signed by the Colorado Rockies on January 21, 2007.