Latest news with #Lance McCullers Jr
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Astros' Lance McCullers Jr. accepts NL Central woes with ‘daddy' claim
The post Astros' Lance McCullers Jr. accepts NL Central woes with 'daddy' claim appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Houston Astros welcomed back Lance McCullers Jr. on Saturday night after a 17-day absence due to a foot injury, but his return didn't go as hoped. The right-hander struggled in his outing, giving up eight runs over just 3 1/3 innings in a disappointing 12-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs. This was McCullers' second difficult start of the season against an NL Central opponent and prompted quite the quip. 'The NL Central is kind of like my daddy right now — the Cincy start [May 10] and now the Cubs start,' he said, per Brian McTaggart of 'Outside of that, I feel like I've thrown the ball well. There's, of course, things here and there throughout the course of the games where you look back and you're like, 'Oh, I probably could have done better, extended my outing a little bit more, this and that,' but overall I was throwing the ball after that Cincinnati game really well. I felt my [putaway] stuff was there, and it kind of just feels like I have to reset a little bit. It doesn't get easier for me.' McCullers allowed seven runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10, his second start back from a two-and-a-half-year injury absence. Between the Cincinnati and Chicago outings, however, he posted a 3.20 ERA across five starts, including two six-inning performances, before a foot sprain temporarily sidelined him again. In Saturday's game, Lance McCullers Jr. gave up seven hits, four walks, and three home runs while throwing 79 pitches, 41 for strikes. He threw 12 consecutive balls during the first inning and walked in a run before recovering to retire Nico Hoerner and start a stretch of eight straight outs. He totaled only 24 pitches in the second and third innings but was chased in the fourth after allowing seven runs. The fourth inning unraveled after McCullers retired the first batter. Michael Busch and Hoerner hit back-to-back homers into the Crawford Boxes. Statcast data showed Busch's homer would've cleared the fence in just one MLB stadium, while Hoerner's would've gone out in 13 parks. McCullers followed with a walk to Matt Shaw and a single to Reese McGuire before Ian Happ drove in another run with a ground-ball single. Kyle Tucker, a former Astro, then crushed a hanging first-pitch slider over the right-field wall for a three-run shot. McCullers admitted that most pitches in that sequence were well-executed, with the slider to Tucker being his one major regret. He generated just one whiff on 28 sliders, a night-and-day difference from his earlier-season 28.8% whiff rate with the pitch. Astros Manager Joe Espada, who had hoped Lance McCullers Jr. could throw 80-85 pitches, said this about the rough start: 'Just to get him back out there and get him pitching, that's a positive to take out of this.' Espada noted McCullers 'had enough in the tank' to escape the fourth but ultimately couldn't finish it. McCullers, who now holds a 6.61 ERA over 32 2/3 innings in this season looks ahead to his next start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 'I face the Dodgers next [in Los Angeles] and just gotta keep chugging, gotta keep pushing,' he said. Related: MLB rumors: Astros linked to Orioles star trade in 'aggressive' search Related: Astros' Yordan Alvarez continues to progress towards injury return on birthday
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Lance McCullers Jr. becomes 17th Astros player to hit injured list
PHOENIX — Nine days before the trade deadline, more attrition has hit the Houston Astros' starting rotation. Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. has a blister on his throwing hand and is back on the injured list for the third time this season, thrusting Houston's rotation further into a state of flux. Advertisement McCullers' stint on the 15-day injured list is backdated to July 20, meaning he is ineligible to be activated prior to the July 31 trade deadline. McCullers, who is making $17 million, is also the 17th Astro to hit the IL. No team has more injured players. He joins six other Astros starting pitchers on the injured list. Two of them, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski, already underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery. Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti and Luis Garcia are all on minor-league rehab assignments, but are not expected to re-join the major-league rotation before the July 31 trade deadline, during which Houston is expected to actively pursue an established starter. That plan would've stayed in place even if McCullers had remained healthy. After returning in May from a 915-day absence, McCullers owns a 6.90 ERA across his first 11 starts. He has failed to finish five innings during seven of them, putting untenable stress on an already depleted pitching staff. McCullers collected just eight outs during his last start on Saturday at T-Mobile Park. He surrendered five hits, four earned runs and generated three whiffs from the 28 swings the Seattle Mariners took against him. Opponents have a 50 percent hard-hit rate against McCullers, who is missing few bats and unable to locate any of his secondary pitches for strikes. McCullers is generating just a 20.3 percent chase rate — league average is 28.4 percent — and teams are whiffing just 24.5 percent of the time against him.
