There is Arrogance to Lance which is he outrights deserves a Starting Spot which he should work for it instead of getting the Starting Spot. There are literally 8 Pitchers ahead of him that actually contributed. Did Lance Contribute against the Dodgers in the World Series against the Dodgers No he was scared, literally shaking on the mound hitting batters, Brad Peacock, Charlie Morton saved his behind. Astros hits four Dodgers batters in 2 1/3 innings In Game 3 of the 2022 World Series versus the Philadelphia Phillies, McCullers became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow five home runs in a game. McCullers, who gave up five home runs in 4 1/3 innings as the Phillies whipped the Astros, 7-0 What contribution are you talking about? In 2017, 2022 Phillies Beat down of Lance McCullers Pitch Tipper
Sure. The World Series performances themselves haven’t been great. However, the 2017 ALCS performance against the Yankees will live on in Astros lore forever. In 2021, Lance was one of the best pitchers in baseball down the stretch and into the ALDS against the White Sox(pitched on short rest) and dominated them in both starts. If Lance doesn’t get hurt then who knows what happens against ATL in the WS. Also, people forget about Lance absolutely shoving against Seattle in the 22’ ALDS in the game that went 18 innings. Pretty sure he threw 6 shutout innings with 7 K’s or so. He also started the series clincher vs the Yankees in 22’(who we also swept). Say what you want about McCuller’s WS performances… but in both years that we won it all(and when they made it to the WS in 21’)he absolutely played a role in helping those Championships/Pennants happen.
Dude has started 12 games in the postseason and we've won 7 of those. He's got a 3.47 ERA, 1.128 WHIP, 9.9k/9 in the playoffs. And that's after he pitched hurt in the 2022 WS, saving the bullpen - the last game he ever pitched to date. He's a bad man in the postseason. Or he was - I won't believe he's healthy and 100% until I see him actually pitching in a game. Still, his 4 innings to close game 7 of the 2017 ALCS was legendary. You can cherry pick postseason starts and find anyone who underperformed. Lance has better overall postseason numbers than Uncle Charlie, who everyone loves. He's been as good as JV, who's also been poor in the WS but well in the ALDS and ALCS.
You are a troll. There is nothing arrogant entitled about Lance. He has earned his spot. He has more service time/ seniority than anyone on this roster except Altuve. He has a better career FIP than Framber. He has been in the post season rotation of both Astros World Series championship teams. Astros are 8-4 in Lance's 12 career post season starts and only given up 4+ earned runs twice (16%). He has a 3.47 career post season ERA. Framber? He has given up 4+ ER in 5 of his 16 post season starts (31%).He has a 4.34 career post season ERA. Oh, and the Astros have lost his last 4 post season starts. Tell me an Astros starter who deserves a rotation spot over a healthy McCullers? I will give you Framber but it's debatable.
Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia. Outside Hayden Wesnescki, JP France Where does Lance McCullers and his new delivery fit in this Rotation? He completely changed his delivery and is a question mark on his Arm. This is a Fact. Lance is worried about his Free Agency Money not the Team. Lance missed 3 Full Seasons. Last Pitched Game 3 of the 2022 World Series. There is legit talk Lance McCullers will start out AAA. After that Lance McCullers really will be in the Bullpen on the Astros.
https://www.si.com/mlb/astros/news/houston-astros-injured-pitcher-is-named-team-worst-contract https://climbingtalshill.com/posts/...as-one-of-astros-worst-contracts-01j4hqmkqmda
There’s literally nothing in that article about McCullers changing his delivery or being worried about his free agency.
Lance is locked in for the next two seasons so there’s no reason for him to worry about his contract this year. If he’s just money motivated he’d be better off slow rolling this return and coming back strong in 26.
No it isn’t. His contract has this year and next year remaining, and also baseball seasons only span one calendar year.
You must be thinking of a different sport. There is no 25-26 season in baseball. Lance McCullers has a contract with the Astros for the 25 and for the 26 seasons.
There is also nothing about his free agency in either of those videos. It kind of seems like you might be full of ****. The 2nd video does mention a slightly different arm action but nothing outside normal tweaks every pitcher makes throughout their career and especially during offseasons and rehabs. “Best shape of his life” type stuff. Of course McCullers carries performance risk due to his injury history; that’s a permanent thing with him moving forward. But in terms of his character, focus, effort, there’s zero evidence that justifies denigrating him. If anything, there’s evidence he pitched thru injuries to help the team at the potential expense of his own future. He’s not in the last year of his deal. His current contract runs through the 2026 season.
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/17540/lance-mccullers It's not that hard to find the right answer here. This year is NOT his final year under contract. And you've still yet to post any evidence about him caring more about his Free Agency than the team winning. Have a feeling we'll be waiting quite a while for you to find any evidence of that. You clearly have strong feelings against the guy, but that doesn't change the facts that he has massively contributed to the two WS runs.
I’m not liking that Zach Cole and Jeron Williams have not been in a big league spring game yet this season. Hoping they’re not hurt, both guys are high ceiling prospects I am optimistic about this season.
