Lance McCullers Jr. is young, but he’s not that young

Yes, ball player-wise Lance McCullers is young, but he’s not that young. Carlos Correa is younger. Alex Bregman is younger. When Jose Altuve was Lance’s age he led the majors in batting average and hits. When Larry Dierker was LMJ’s age he was a second-time All-Star in his 7th full season in the majors. Heck, Audie Murphy won the Congressional Medal of Honor at the age of 19 for holding off a company of Germans single-handedly and then leading a counterattack without ammunition.

The one thing that is mostly young about Lance is his maturity. We’ve seen this before. We’ve seen a meltdown last season when he could not get on the same page with his catcher Evan Gattis; he seemed to have an infantile episode having to deal with someone other than Brian McCann. We saw a meltdown in the 7th game of the World Series where his pitches were more likely to hit the ribs of the opponent as the strike zone. We saw a meltdown earlier this season where he gave up 8 runs in 2/3 of an inning where he blamed having to follow a plan that was not his plan.

And then Saturday night there were again some signs of strain or over-emotion or immaturity. Early on Yuli Gurriel messed up a very hard hit ball right at him. Lance showed his displeasure with the misplay right out in the middle of the field for all to see. As they headed off the field Jose Altuve showed some emotion back at LMJ just before getting into the dugout. Then later on to finish off a ragged start, Lance did not get a strike call against Edwin Encarnacion and followed it up with a batting practice home run pitch.

There is a fine line between players being emotional bull dogs and being over-amped. Lance McCullers seems to be tottering on that line right now. When he is riding his emotions, but controlling them, he is one of the best pitchers in the league. When he doesn’t control those emotions he is the second coming of Lucas Harrell.

So, going forward, what happens?

  • Does  Justin Verlander step in and give him some advice on how to channel and control that emotional energy?
  • Does Manager A.J. Hinch take action and if so what?
    • Give lights out reliever Collin McHugh a starting spot back?
    • Put McCullers in the bullpen? In the minors?
    • Give him time out and take away his I-phone for a day?
    • Or let his players self police LMJ?

What would you do?

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121 responses to “Lance McCullers Jr. is young, but he’s not that young”

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  2. This isn’t just about now. Three years form now a bunch of the starting pitchers we have now won’t be around and LMJ will have a chance to be a leader on this team.
    Soon, a person LMJ respects more than he loves himself is going to have to settle LMJ down and help him grow up. Right now, I think LMJ loves himself more than he loves anyone else.
    We’ll know when that change happens, because that twitter dookie will be laid to rest.
    Sandy Koufax made his MLB debut at the age of 19, but it wasn’t until his age 25 season that he turned it around. LMJ is still only 24.

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  3. The Indian dugout had to love that display from Lance last night. The three homers that followed were no coindiance. They smelled weakness. That taboo of showing up your own guy on the field is one of the earliest lessons teammmates learn. It’s also a life lesson. Somehow Lance has not gotten that message. Idon’t know if Verlander or anyone else fixes that. McCullers could not possibly have a better learning environment than his present professional situation.

    I’d give him one more bit of direction. Blunt. Another similar event, we’ve got an excellent guy in Collin McHugh to be our fifth starter.

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    • I never ever ever like putting closers in a non-closing situation. About 50% of the time it is a major disaster.

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  8. Omg, I just sat here fist pumping, hollering alone in my den celebrating that 5 run outburst and was not concerned when the bp came in to close it out. To watch our lead evaporate just like that…I don’t have the words. I’m sorry but JL has my vote to package some of our relievers, Giles included for a frontline closer if one is available.

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    • It’s hard to keep things in perspective but coming into the game this bullpen was leading the AL in ERA by more than 1/2 a run and had been very good here in May. Stuff happens and these guys are not perfect.

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  9. As Lance leaves the field he sticks out his glove at Altuve who swats it away, slams his glove then proceeds to blow up LMJ. Situation handled as far as I’m concerned by the tm leader.

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    • I think you are right old school as far as that handling the Gurriel situation (ironically Gurriel’s great play today kept the game from ending in the 9th).
      I think somebody needs to work with what he needs to do to keep from melting down pitching-wise like he did yesterday. That’s emotional control.

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  10. Yeah, our pen has been excellent. But our closer needs to be able to get a K when he needs it. Our guy has lost that ability. The closer should never let a guy have 16 pitches off him. But give credit to the Indians in the 9th. They hit some pitches out of the zone, way down in the count. I quit watching.

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  13. I know the rotation has been discussed in a previous post but I’m curious what it would be like if Peacock or McHugh were in the mix. Unless LMJ was absolutely horrendous AJ is hardpressed to move him out, likewise DK being the only lefty starter. LMJ is the future, DK is on his way out but needs to be allowed to establish value for trading I think. I would love to see LMJ dealing like his buddies with his potential/upside, jeeze, talk about records if that were so, I think. Is thee any scenario other than injury/ineffectiveness that AJ reconfigures the rotation to bring in one of those guys? Might it hurt the continuity of the rotation if he tries?

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  14. As my history of commenting will show I have not been a big McCullers fan but have to admit that I’ve seen some good progress from him this season. However selfishness is hard to manage and obviously just under the surface for him. People only respond to criticism/discipline if they have to or if they want to. Using the threat of consequences rarely elicits lasting change. Altuve reading him the riot act and then immediately going out and hitting a bomb, stealing bases and going 4 for 4 could not have been a more impactful lesson. Altuve knows that its not all about himself but about the team. If McCullers can’t/won’t learn that lesson then trading him seems the best option. If he can’t control his emotions I don’t want him in the bullpen either, especially in high leverage situations. We saw earlier this year what happened to Giles against the Yankees. His next start against the Red Sox should be instructive. He’ll be at home but will probably have Stassi catching if Pomeranz starts for the Sox.

    As for Giles tonight, that AB against Ramirez was killer. I think I would have taken him out at that point. He got 17 pitches of which 14 were strikes. Don’t see any point in having him pitch more if it was just supposed to be a tune-up. Since his outburst against the Yankees he’s actually been pretty reliable and while I think its garbage that closers can’t seem to perform unless there’s high leverage the rest of the pen stunk the place up. At least Peacock wasn’t overworked.

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    • As I’ve said before, I believe Giles is pitching to contact. His fastball is pretty flat with almost no movement. His slider has some movement but is not always reliable. I agree that he should have been taken out after the Ramirez AB. I think he was mentally drained. Funny that the only reliever after Devo who was effective was Joe Smith. Maybe he’s finding his groove. I didn’t think we’d win after the big 9th inning let down and surprised we made it as far as we did. Gattis, who is not my favorite managed to have two big bombs for us. Just a shame that it turned out the way it did. And I agree with Billy on the previous posts that the only time I want to see Jake with a bat in his hand is for another team. He’s pathetic at the plate. And Marwin’s not doing much better. Maybe another call up and is JD Davis even in the ball park? Bregman had 3 K’s today which is unusual for him. I question some of the calls because he has the best eye of any of our hitters. However, he should be good enough to foul off some of those borderline pitches instead of watching the call third strike. The biggest difference today was Cleveland believed that they were going to win while we were hoping to win.

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  15. On a separate note, I like Mike Stanton. But he reminds me of the kid in elementary school who tried too hard to be liked.

    He needs to watch some old tapes of good announcers. Silence lets the game be seen. We don’t need an analysis of every pitch and every play.

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  16. Last night and this afternoon’s games have been put in my most forgettable games. Last night’s little temper tantrum was a situation that took care of its self. I lean to the side that let the guys self police things like that. You can see the frustration on everyone’s face…….the pitchers think they have to be perfect and win games with *1* run leads. The rest of the guys are frustrated that they aren’t hitting like they know they are capable of. Altuve did everything but pitch and catch last night. That kid is AMAZING. No excuse for losing today’s game….NONE. Now they limp into New York with a totally SPENT bullpen, and a guy named Ken Giles that hopes his name is not called on to pitch anytime soon.
    He has lost his confidence and so have I. Our bullpen has been AWESOME they haven’t been over worked, but today the wheels came off. Like I said, these two games are going in the trash…….neither one of them were worth spending one more minute on. *Situational hitting* is killing this team.

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  17. Yesterday the Indians took a page out of the Royals’ late-inning offensive playbook from 2016: Don’t try to kill the ball when you are several runs behind – just make the pitcher work hard and get frustrated as you foul off every fastball strike, then wait for the inevitable low breaking ball, and stroke it to the opposite field just above the infielders’ heads. They did it to perfection – got close, and never doubted for a second that they would win.

    Hats off to them. They had a lot to do with our bullpen implosion.

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  18. The Cleveland series was a four day battle between two heavyweight teams. It was a lot like watching Charlton Heston and Gregory Peck going after each other in “The Big Country”.
    The battle was on Cleveland’s Turf and it ended up a draw, with each team winning two games and moving on with a ton of bruises and mutual respect for each other, all the while knowing they face a new battle today.
    The Astros showed a lot of moxie in the first two games and Cleveland showed it in the next two.
    We saw some brawling baseball these last four days. I’m hoping the Astros go to NY and find Jean Simmons and can ride off in the sunset after beating the crap out of Chuck Connors.

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    • Sounds like you’re glass half full guy and I’m the one wondering where half my water went. I think the Indians have to come away from that series feeling pretty good about their chances and the Astros have to feel pretty disappointed. I’m not going to complain too much about Hinch all year – he’s mostly making some conventional moves that aren’t working at times, but the team is winning. I just don’t think our bullpen can be used like it was in this series. We play a day game @NYY today. Why in the world would you want Giles to “get some work” in yesterday’s game? Not only did he pitch poorly and open the door to the tie and eventual loss, he’s not likely not going to be ready to go this afternoon if needed…and if you do use him then he’s likely not going to be able to go the next two games.

      TL;DR: Why fatigue your closer going into 3 @NYY followed by BOS at home for 3 games without an off day? Is your intention for him NOT to be available in as many of those games as possible so they would get less looks at him during the regular season? That’s my only theory that there was strategy involved yesterday, but it kind of falls flat when you consider CLE is as much of a concern for October games as either of those teams from the East.

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      • Here’s my question – did Hinch make all those decisions – was he just a few feet down the tunnel after getting tossed?

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  22. Hinch was certainly making the decisions. Seems that he really does not want Devenski working multiple innings. I’m still kind of annoyed because when you win the first two, the expectation of at least 3 out of 4 is the only real one. Unfortunately, we gave them both of the last two, in two very different ways.

    But don’t be so troubled my friends! I guarantee you that Luhnow is already working on what changes he needs to make prior to the various deadlines this summer. And I’d almost guarantee a significant addition to the pen as one of those changes.

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    • Agreed. But I’m also hoping he’s working the phone for another DH! This lineup is desperate for another bat. The guy I would have loved to have in the bullpen is Brad Hand, but the Padres gave him a contract over the winter. I’d be scouting the Royals bullpen. They are open for business!

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      • With Gattis’ scorching May, I am fine letting him continue as the main DH – especially knowing we have guys like Kemp, White, and Davis who cans step in and do a really good job as DH if we need them to.

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    • You mean the guy who is hitting .156 with 47 Ks in 96 ABs? Who is talking about that guy? Get well soon, Josh Reddick!

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    • Billy, I think Jake deserves daily mention. He must be on some kind of record non pitcher batter pace for K’s versus AB’s. He’s simply the best at what he does!

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      • Jake made soft contact. We must give credit where credit is due. OP, those tomato plants looking happy?

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      • Dave, I’ve been worried about the tomatoes because they look beautiful, but had no new blooms. Today there were tons of new blooms and it is time for the butterflies and honey bees to do their job.

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  24. I would like to remember all those veterans who have left this world whether in our service or afterwards.
    That includes my father, Don, who served in Korea and thankfully returned, otherwise I would not be here today. He has been gone since 2001.
    It also includes his uncle Leroy Klug who was shot down over the Pacific during WWII. My middle name Lee is in his honor.

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    • My Dad was a navigator on a PBY in the Pacific. He never talked much about his experiences and I guess he had his reasons. At his funeral, a man came up to me telling me about my Dad sharing some of his war experiences with him as he lay dying from diabetes. I was extremely hurt that my Dad would share these with another person but not me but he had been in the Navy Air Corp too. I take comfort in that he had his reasons and did share some things with me. I still have his dress blues, combat and campaign ribbons, and his Navy flight jacket which I’ll treasure till I die. I sure won’t be putting in the Goodwill box. He passed in 2005. It was just a different time then.

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      • Zanuda – I think your dad was probably “protecting” you from what he thought were things civilians should not be a part of. He shared with someone who had been through similar events. I don’t think he meant to hurt you.

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      • Thanks. It was just a little painful at the time, but then again, my Dad was a very private person. He was however, a big Astros fan and that’s when I’d see him get somewhat emotional. He wasn’t here for the WS in 2005 or 2017 but I’m sure he was watching from a different venue.

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  26. My favorite dad story about the army – he’s a young guy from Wisconsin and he makes his first trip to the south for basic training. One day he is riding a very full local bus in his army uniform. He gets up and gives his seat to an elderly African American woman.
    As he’s getting off the bus the bus driver stops him and says about giving up a seat to a black woman (which I’m sure he didn’t use the term black) “Son we don’t do that around here”
    My dad without missing a beat says “I’m not from around here.”

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  27. Very good win for the Astros. No leftover crap from Sunday’s debacle with great starting pitching, 5 runs on offense and a bullpen that bounced back. We can criticize Hinch’s going back to the well some times, but he knew it was important for Giles and Harris to get the bad taste out of their mouths and they did.

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  29. Thanks to all of the folks who served our country. lets not forget those who stayed at home and served as well. my dad was a WWII vet in the navy who was wounded and decorated. while serving on an attack transport ship in the invasion of sicily he shot down a Messerschmidt 109 that had been strafing the ships. he was made an honorary LT in the army by the men on deck.

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  30. Man, the Rockets had a game plan that was working, pounding it inside. Then they decided to Jake 25 three’s in a row. Well, we can now focus on our favorite squad.

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  32. I can’t say enough for the job the Astros did today. JD Davis finally gets his chance and hits a bomb.
    Altuve struggles all day and then hits a bomb. Gattis gets a big RBI and has the good baserunning sense to go to second on Marwin’s TOOTBLan.
    Harris, Devenski and Giles come in and shut the door.
    We are 15 games over .500 and Seattle is right behind us.
    We have a race and it is going to be a blast.
    Remember to stay high when we win and don’t get too low when we don’t.
    OK I’m going to check on the prospects now.

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  33. When I read these posts with the ups and downs on the Astros, it reminds me of the Everett Dirksen quote.

    “I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”

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  34. For daveb – Rockets vs. Jake
    Rockets hit 15.9% of their threes
    Jake gets a base hit in 15.3% of his ABs
    Equally terrible.

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    • Great stat Dan. They should be in the finals today. On McCann, I’d think maybe this is his first rest break of the season, but I don’t think they’d send him home during a series in the Bronx.

      Remarkable that just a year ago, we were wondering who the heck was going to start our games. Rotation stability is a wonderful thing, even as we try to nurture the immature.

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  36. Interesting that they didn’t tap Stubbs since he hits left handed. He doesn’t have the power numbers that Federowicz has but getting some MLB exposure might serve him well.

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      • He is now. Stassi, Gattis and McCann were the only catchers on the 40 man but we did have room so no one has to come off the 40 man. We still have 2 open spots on the 40 even with Federowicz.

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      • He is not yet on the 40 man roster and a move will have to be made to accomodate this. My guess is Francis Martes will go onto the 60 day DL.

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  37. We are now 2-3 this year against the Yankees. To begin this month they beat us three in a row, by scores of:
    1. 4-0 [ a Verlander game, lost by Ken Giles who gave up all 4 of the Yankees’ runs when he game into a 0-0 game in the 9th inning];
    2. 4-0 [a DK game, which we lost in the 1st inning];
    3. 6-5 [a McCullers game we were winning until Will Harris gave up 3 runs in the 9th].

    We gave those games away in our home park. We really need to make a statement, and take the series against the Yanks this year, with big wins in the next two games.

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  39. Boy, Kemp jumping on Gattis like with questionable intentions, and Altuve swattin’ him ever which way. Must make him feel good. Don’t mind it myself.

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  48. I thought Yankee fans were smart. They should know that they don’t have to stand up in order to coax a K out of Jake.
    I think both Smith and Rondon will prove to be good acquisitions.
    Do we still need to find a new DH, or are we ok with Gattis at this point?
    Just maybe Marwin is waking up.
    What if Jose does not slump again on the season?
    We don’t really have a definitive closer. This is Luhnows biggest challenge going forward.

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