James really only needed three pitches he could rely on for the amount of time he spent on the mound in 2019.
But now, as the Astros' No. 4 starter, James is bringing back his curveball.
After spring training shut down in March, James worked on the curveball more than his slider, or changeup.
James said Wednesday during a conference call it worked out as well as he could expect.
"I've always thrown it. Last year, being in the bullpen, four pitches was too much, being a reliever," James said. "So when there was a possibility of me starting, I went back to throwing it. It kind of worked out great, having that down time, with COVID hitting. I was able to work on it more and get that feel back for it."
James, who upped his pitch count to 82 in Wednesday's intrasquad game, said he plans to throw the curve regularly this season.
He was supposed to start the day before in an exhibition against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, but weather concerns led to the Astros pulling James a little more than an hour before first pitch.
On Wednesday, James wasn't particularly sharp and didn't get ahead of hitters as much as Dusty Baker wanted to see, but it was good for James to stretch out and get quality work in.
"I felt really good. I feel like I'm in a really good place. Delivery feels really good," James said. "I didn't have as many big misses. I'm kind of shrinking my misses and I'm in the zone. Slider feels good, curveball felt really good, changeup was really good today. So I'm really excited about where I'm at."
The reason James' delivery feels so good is because he worked with pitching coach Brent Strom on cutting out a lot of the extraneous movement that kept him from properly locating his pitches.
Strom monitored every one of James' bullpen sessions in Florida since the pandemic, which is why he was confident the 27-year-old right hander would be able to throw four innings almost as soon as he arrived to camp after the birth of his daughter Sophia.
"The limiting of my movements is helping me to be able to repeat my delivery a lot more and that's allowing me to be a little bit more consistent and cut out those huge misses, those uncompetitive misses," James said. "It's allowing me to be more competitive. I thought I got some bad swings by some good hitters. So it's been night and day compared to last year."
James will follow Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers Jr. and Zack Greinke in the Astros' rotation to start the season. The absence of Jose Urquidy, who projected to be the No. 4 starter at spring training, and injuries to others on the pitching staff opened up an opportunity for James.
He went from competing for the No. 5 starting spot to emerging as the fourth starter, despite arriving late to summer camp.
Framber Valdez will be the Astros' fifth starter, Baker confirmed Wednesday. Austin Pruitt had also been in competition for the role at spring training, but a bone bruise in his right elbow set him back during summer camp.
Valdez is throwing a live bullpen session at Minute Maid Park on Thursday, but the Astros will not have a formal team workout.