Lance McCullers Jr. takes confidence into Game 2 start for Astros
McCullers #McCullers
Game 2 Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. limbers up during Saturday’s workout at Petco Park.
During the Before Times of February spring training in Florida, Lance McCullers Jr. took several of the Astros’ young pitchers to dinner, an annual tradition designed to teach them the finer points of baseball life such as how to order a properly cooked steak.
Among the group, McCullers recalled Sunday, were a half-dozen young men penciled in as future contributors who instead have played critical roles in the Astros’ uneven march to the American League Championship Series.
“Andre Scrubb was there, Blake Taylor was there, (Cionel) Perez, Brandon Bielak,” McCullers said. “It’s funny to see how guys we got together with for a dinner in the spring have played such big roles for us.”
Also in that group in February was Enoli Paredes, who could be the first man out of the bullpen when McCullers takes the mound as the Astros’ Game 2 starter Monday afternoon against the Rays at Petco Park in San Diego.
These days, Paredes is one of the tentpoles of the Astros’ bullpen, having retired all 11 batters he’s faced in three playoff outings. Back in February, though, he was used to eating meat like he did while growing up in the Dominican Republic.
“I remember we had steak, and when we come from Latin countries, we like it cooked well done,” Paredes said. “(McCullers) told me, ‘You have to try to eat food like us,’ and that was the first time I tried steak (cooked) medium.”
He wasn’t crazy about it, Paredes said, laughing at the memory, but he appreciated the veteran’s efforts to teach him about life in the big leagues.
It’s a role McCullers said he picked up from veterans like Dallas Keuchel and one he has embraced this year after returning from a year’s absence following Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery in 2018.
“(That’s) the part I’m enjoying the most,” he said. “I’m in more of a leadership role in this team versus teams I was on in the past, and I’m enjoying that aspect and enjoying watching our guys play the part.”
Along with his duties as food critic and the Astros’ team representative to the players’ union, McCullers has taken on increased importance within the Astros’ rotation with the loss of Justin Verlander to injury, the departure to free agency of Gerrit Cole and the uneven performances of late from Zack Greinke.
While his won-lost record doesn’t necessarily reflect it, McCullers said he has been pleased with his performances since returning to the active roster after an early September stint on the injured list with nerve issues in his neck related to his post-surgical recovery.
“I’ve really felt like my stuff has been at the top of the game,” he said. “I haven’t used my changeup as much because the matchups haven’t been there, but if there’s an opportunity to use it, I feel comfortable.
“My curveball is pretty much back to where I’ve expected it and need it to be. My fastball command is there. I’m integrating the cutter, which gives me an opportunity to change eye levels on hitters.”
McCullers continues to be among the most effective pitchers in terms of curveball spin rates, swing-and-miss percentages and limiting barrel contact, and Astros manager Dusty Baker has been impressed since spring by his work ethic and his comeback from surgery.
“He’s throwing the ball well, his arm is sound and he’s in great shape,” Baker said. “He’s been a big-game guy, and we’re looking forward to watching him pitch, and we expect more of the same.
“His fastball is better, his changeup is better and you know about his breaking ball.”
Only once in four starts since returning to the active roster, however, has McCullers made it through seven full innings, although he fell just one out short in a September game against Seattle. He lasted four innings as the Astros’ Game 1 starter in the division series against Oakland.
With no days off during the best-of-seven ALCS, McCullers said, the Astros will need their starters to go as deep as possible to ease the stress on the bullpen.
“Seven games in a row, we do it all the time during the season, but never with this type of intensity,” he said. “But we have a lot of (bullpen) guys like Scrubb. I’m still confident in the ability that Josh James brings to the table. I think he’ll pitch big innings for us.”
Collectively, he said, the Astros’ young pitchers remind him of the group with which he entered the big leagues in 2015. That group, he said, has helped create a welcoming clubhouse atmosphere that has proved essential during this troublesome season.
“Our clubhouse culture here has been unbelievable,” McCullers said, “and the guys feel comfortable coming to the field being themselves, and this gives them the opportunity to perform the best they can.”
david.barron@chron.com
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