The plan for Lance McCullers Jr’s first start of spring training changed a couple of times.
When he took the mound in West Palm Beach thinking he’d only be throwing one inning, but after throwing 12 pitches in a perfect frame Astros pitching coach Brent Strom asked if he’d like to throw a second inning, but because the bottom of the first lasted 30 minutes after the Astros sent 10 men to the plate in a five-run inning the decision was made to end McCullers’ night.
“I got my work in how we wanted,” McCullers said. “The plan was to go one (inning), then it was to go two and then the long inning, so I just finished up in the ‘pen.”
McCullers started his outing by striking out Matt Carpenter and finished up by getting Paul Goldschmidt to fly out and Yadier Molina to ground out. He said his fastball was sitting at 94-95 MPH and he’s excited with where he stands two weeks into the spring.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “Physically, I came into camp, I got my bullpens in on schedule. Got my lives in on schedule. All the lives were a success. Got to the game, my velocity is, couldn't ask for anything more with the velocity, where it’s at right now.”
Not only is McCullers happy with where his arm and body stand at this point on the calendar, but he says he has good feel for all of his pitches.
“My off-speed is really crisp right now,” he said. “I didn’t get to throw any changeups today, but it was really good in the ‘pen.”
A free agent after the season, McCullers, 27, finished 2020 with a 3.93 ERA in his return from Tommy John Surgery. He only missed one start, which was due to a nerve issue in his neck, he didn’t allow an earned in his final three starts of the regular season.