I think you hit it right on that they're willing to listen to him to strengthen the relationship, but will ultimately do what they think is best.
Breaking balls and elbow torque account for the increase in injuries/TJS. Curve balls in particular do terrible things to your elbow joint.
The arm is not meant to move in that direction. Wear and tear will happen, some worse than others. Hopefully McCullers has good genes.
"Boras said..." I trust that guy, who wouldn't, right? He has a great relationship with the Stros now, he knows which side his bread is buttered on.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">First 9 career starts. Jose Fernandez: 3.31 ERA, 49 IP, 39 H, 18 BB, 46 K Lance McCullers: 2.19 ERA, 53.1 IP, 36 H, 18 BB, 58 K <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a></p>— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosFuture/status/616615625985691648">July 2, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dude is a freaking ace right now, no other way to slice it. His stuff is sick. You never want to get too high on a prospect so early but this guy looks to be the real deal.
So much room for improvement too. Daryl Kyle 2.0. That curve is so nasty....... He is going to be an ace when he gets better command. Starting to like what I see from Velasquez as well.
Oddly enough, I think facing the other best team in the AL (who happens to be free swinging) helped him out tremendously. He had struggled with deep counts, and KC helped prevent that from happening. I am coming around on VV, and another start past the 6th would help.
I'm excited about that hard changeup too. That video posted of it just sliding from middle of the strike zone to a foot off the plate while still traveling 94 mph was mind boggling. If he could consistently locate that pitch?! Coupled with the good fastball and curve. We would have TWO ace pitchers when we thought we had none just two years ago.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Among AL starters with at least 50 IP, Lance McCullers has the third-best FIP- (67), behind only Chris Sale and Chris Archer.</p>— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) <a href="https://twitter.com/BtBScore/status/616458355196960768">July 2, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-terrifying-comp-for-lance-mccullers-best-weapon/ Kimbrel curve, 95 4S, 90+ CH. Terrifying.
Bump. Very good article. Short version: McCullers has best curveball among starters and it isn't close.
Just sad he's not going to win rookie of the year because of some SS out of Houston getting a lot of love.
