Extreme minority or not such behavior shouldn’t just be accepted or excused. It’s also not just major league players but I see behavior like this in youth sports including both online and in person.
I haven’t heard anyone making excuses. I just don’t know how you think you can prevent anyone from ever doing something dumb like that.
They've been tinkering with his pitch mix almost every game since he came back. I find it interesting that they tried at all to have him throw the 4 seamer at all. They abandoned that pitch years ago(because it sucked even with good velo), and he had his best season in 21 without throwing it and being strictly a sinker guy. After yesterday it seems they are dropping it again, only threw 2 according to statcast. His pitch mix yesterday was much closer to his 21 usage, sinker/curve/slider with some changeups mixed in. No reason to not trust the pitching coaches given their resounding success, I'm sure there's a good reason for everything they try.
Really hard to succeed without a 4 seamer. Changeup pretty pointless without the difference in velo. His curve and slider are still very good but those are also the pitches that strain his arm the most. I don't know that his arm holds up the full season given all that, but it's really nice seeing him out there for as long as it lasts. I thought for a long time Lance would never come back and here he is, our #3 starter again.
Framber doesn't use a 4 seamer either, he throws maybe one a game. You certainly need a fastball of some kind to succeed, but a sinker works fine. In 20 and 21 his changeup played off it well enough that hitters weren't teeing off on his non breaking balls.
I wonder what the lowest % of fastballs a consistently good starting pitcher has been able to get away with. In his first few seasons McCullers threw his curve almost 50% the time. In 2018 he only threw his fb (sinker) 36%. So 40% curves, 20% sliders, 25% sinkers, and 15% changeups might be a viable mix, at least until he gets hurt again.
I'm guessing they were hoping to keep the curve/slider usage under 40% to try and help his arm, or maybe it was just to ease him back into the game. The last 2 starts I think they caved and realized LMJ has to spin to win, come what may. His value has always come from the breaking balls, even when he could hit the high 90's. The other pitches are just kind of there to support them. Maybe they will keep tinkering with sequencing to try and make the other pitches more viable.
Lance throws 91-92 and he was at 94 back in 20/21. Less differentiation from his change. I'm not saying he's in Dallas Keuchel / late stage Greinke territory but he's become a bit of a junk baller. Although as long as he gets outs, I don't care how he gets them. Framber is still up around 94 on his two seamer.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/64...sy-baseball-injury-returns-strider-mccullers/ Lance McCullers Jr., HOU McCullers returned to the majors this year for the first time since the end of 2022. He underwent right elbow surgery and experienced a setback in his recovery, delaying his return to the mound. Through six games started this season, he has a 3.93 FIP, 29% strikeout rate, and 11% walk rate. The two major differences I am seeing from McCullers are in his velocity and command. Starting with his velocity, his fastball average has decreased from 93 mph in 2022 to 91-92 mph. His cutter and changeup are back at about 87 mph, and his slider is down from 85 mph to 83 mph. His slider is his primary weapon against right-handed hitters, followed by his sinker. He has not been as effective against righties this season compared to pre-injury (5.31 FIP vs. 3.81 FIP in his career). This is likely due to command inconsistencies, which may be related to mechanical adjustments made after surgery. This has impacted his ability to locate both the sinker and the slider effectively, as well as the results of each pitch, leading to huge reverse splits. McCullers is throwing his slider 6% less against righties so far this season, but it is still his go-to pitch. Despite adding movement on the pitch (+2 inches of depth and sweep), it is getting … •16% less chase •17% less in-zone miss •15% more fly balls and 34% fewer ground balls To understand why the slider isn’t performing as well, we also need to examine McCullers’ other major weapon against righties — his sinker. The sinker is getting more chase this season compared to pre-injury results. However, it has resulted in the most damage, with a poor 68% hard-hit rate and a .597 xSLG. One thing McCullers did really well pre-injury was use both sides of the plate. Looking at his heat maps from 2022, he mixed the location of his sinker and focused on the outer edge with the slider. Spoiler This season, his slider is ending up higher and middle more frequently, and he is not throwing his sinker inside at the same rate. Spoiler A good sign, however, is that during his June 3 start, he showed better command of his sinker. He was throwing it inside more frequently, like he had pre-injury: Spoiler An interesting observation from that start is that McCullers also avoided throwing the sinker to the bottom of the zone. Pre-injury, sinkers to the bottom third of the zone resulted in ground balls. However, McCullers has not been generating ground balls at the same rate. The heat map below shows the location of the sinkers that were hard-hit so far this season, most of them being in the lower third: Spoiler My theory for the reduction of ground balls is that the velocity is impacting the effectiveness of the pitch lower in the zone, allowing hitters to square the ball up better. Adjusting this location based on the results is a step in the right direction for McCullers. His slider command is still a work in progress, but ideally, he’ll get it back to the lower, outer edge, as he has in years past. Against lefties, he is throwing his knuckle curve 21% less. This is a big change because the knuckle curve was his go-to pitch against lefties pre-injury. It is a strong pitch with above-average movement, above-average velocity and good results throughout his career. Despite its limited usage, McCullers is still doing very well against lefties, with a 2.44 FIP (vs. 2.91 in his career). Additionally, in his June 3 start, McCullers threw the knuckle curve a season-high 40% of the time. This is a good sign that he is starting to feel more confident in the command of this pitch. McCullers still has work to do in terms of regaining his command, but he is showing signs he is on the right track. If he can remain healthy, he can continue to have the same success and return to a reliable mid-rotation starter.
