Lance McCullers

He had a good outing, considering all things.

Too bad Dezenzo ruined the day

 

You are paying him regardless. Go to a 6 man rotation and let him try to pay off all the work he has put in.

 

We don't need to know if he's good enough, we know he is.

We just need to keep his ass on the mound.

 

I was encouraged..............but not one fast ball, was that weather related or was that the plan?

 

He generally throws sinkers instead of four seamers, so perhaps that’s what you’re seeing?

 

He hit 94mph on one though....I think it was a sinker.

DD

 

Breaking down Lance McCullers Jr.'s pitches | 05/04/2025 | Houston Astros

 

We know Lance will be effective if healthy. He just needs to stay healthy. He has ace level stuff.

 

I suspect McCullers will settle in probably half a mph below his peak velo (assuming he stays healthy), but he can/should still be a very productive pitcher at that rate.

It would be such a huge boon for Houston to somehow finish this season with McCullers, Garcia, and Javier all being healthy/productive.

 

He's also throwing the curveball again, and had a hefty dose of fastballs as well.

His pitch utilization changed after the flexor injury... having those pitches back in the full-use fold will continue to keep him above average.

Health the most important thing... but he is also only 30. Guys like Eovaldi eventually were able to carve out a second half career despite being oft-injured/operated on.... maybe he has this possibility as well.

 

Lance has a very similar number of MLB innings thru age 30 to Charlie Morton (both between 700 and 750). Prior to age 30 Morton had IL stints in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013, including TJS. Morton went on to post 23.6 fwar over his age 31-40 seasons. Of course nobody should expect LMC to replicate Morton’s 30s, but it wouldn’t be anywhere outside the realm of possibility for him to kick some ass this season and next season before his contract runs out.

 

another good comp... although different body types/pitching arsenal.

Arm troubles for LMJ were almost universally predicted when he first came on... and that always concerns me when it actually does come true as at that point, it won't be simply a one-off (or a two-off) unless somebody has made the necessary adjustments in mechanics to avoid future injury.

Lance actually hasn't had as much nagging stuff as just the major stuff.

Morton was supposed to retire after 2018.

So many unknowns... but again, nothing would surprise me at this point...

 

Remember Uncle Charlie was going to retire because of health issues.

 

Damn. I posted about Charlie before I read your post. We are on the same page.

 

I've seen enough, make McCullers the ace. He'll be healthy now for the next 10 years I guarantee it.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...ers-jr-death-threats-astros-reds/83568414007/
Stopping in to say as a lifelong Houston Astros fan sad and despicable to be reading about this on Mothers Day. I get being frustrated with a player, there’s too many times to count when I’ve yelled at the screen when a Houston team and player makes a boneheaded play costing us the game but this shows a lack of empathy and common decency. This type of behavior is far too prevalent and even accepted in our culture ranging from pee wee sports to the major leagues.

 

Who are you admonishing?

The people doing that represent and extremely small minority, most of which I suspect aren’t actually astros fans but sports bettors, etc.

Obviously that’s super unfortunate but also unfortunately that comes with the territory of being a professional athlete. There are always going to be crazy POSs out there and no amount of hand wringing is going to stop that.

 

Do people really even care that much about 1 out of a 162 games?

 

Making death threats is a crime, and I'm pretty sure its harder to be anonymous to law enforcement these days on social media. Charging some of these people with a crime and making a very public show of it would probably stop a good chunk of it.

 

I think they should use Lance as an opener.