In 2015 when we had that surprise Wild Card run after 9 nine very tough years, Lance was a catalyst for the franchise turnaround. I remember seeing him, Altuve, Correa, and Springer and feeling like "damn, we have some great young talent," I really hoped that it would lead to some exciting years ahead and not a let down.... we then enjoyed the best era in Astros baseball history. The 24 consecutive bangers against NYY will always be legendary. His gutsy Game 7 start in 2017. The work in the community. And he never gave up trying to rehab and get back, even when he easily could have. He will always have my respect.
LOL at "a couple of good years". LMJ was absolutely instrumental in two titles and we won 9 of the 12 series he pitched in. Closed out the 17 series with 24 straight curveballs. He got left out there to soak up innings in the 22 series against the Phillies in a game that effectively ended his career. Just a true Astros legend. Will miss the heck out of his pitching (pre-injury version).
Lance will always be a great memory overall. The winning times are obvious but always like his fire. He threw those curveballs with little care for injury. Then he pitched in '18 injured against Boston. He struggled and we lost but he gave what he had. He really helped the push in '21 and his one time all-star selection is good for franchise history. Good times. Wish it could've ended better.
I’ll often consider myself a somewhat lazy baseball fanatic, I stay up with just enough statistical data to keep an informed opinion, and have a few pet stats, otherwise I’m a “watch the games and eye test” fan…..….but then you post. Either you know nothing about MLB pitching or LMJ, or you think you do and are just incredibly ill informed. I had to say something. LMJs curveball in 2026 was one of his best ever. Seriously, the curveball was his best out pitch. He was getting MFers out, he just sucked everywhere else. Velocity continues to fall and all the spin that made his curveball and other pitches so nasty is no longer there. So he turns to the FB and it showed how little command he has of his FB variants, like ****ing none, but curve, best ****ing pitch.
