On road to recovery
Club seeks fresh start, and so does McCullers
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Clean slate.
New beginning.
Wide-open horizon.
Dusty Baker, James Click and the 2020 Astros badly need all that and more, as soon as possible.
Lance McCullers Jr. faced it all Friday morning, looking different, sounding like a matured 26-year-old and already knowing what his fifth season in Major League Baseball represents.
The Astros desperately need a cleansing and spent the first day of spring training trying to publicly defend their 2017 World Series title.
McCullers fired off a side mound on the second day and confidently looked back on a lost 2019 season that was dominated by one surgical term: Tommy John.
“Tommy John was my teammate,” Baker joked Friday at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. “I remember that first Tommy John (surgery). That was an experiment. … I’ve seen guys throw better and harder after Tommy John than before.”
The Astros won a franchise-record 107 games last season. McCullers watched, learned and improved, despite never throwing a pitch.
As the 2020 Astros take everything day by day — the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger and Washington’s Mike Rizzo attacked Jim Crane’s fran-
chise Friday — a power righthander on the rebound focuses on the simple, daily tasks in front of him.
“I feel really good,” said McCullers, who last pitched in Game 4 of the 2018 American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park. “I feel like I’ve put in a lot of hard work over this past 15-16 months. I’ve come a long way, not just as far as physically but mentally, and just kind of where I’m at moving into the season. I’m excited to get going again. I’ve had to wait a long time.”
McCullers used to mentally project himself into the future. This February, the No. 41 overall pick of the 2012 draft plans to stay in the moment and build on all the little things that create a strong 162-game season.
With Gerrit Cole proudly pitching for the Evil Empire in New York, it’s Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and _____ in the Astros’ rotation. McCullers is expected to lock down the No. 3 spot. But everything from a total innings limit to his full-season reliability in 2020 are lingering questions, and he’s never thrown more than 1281⁄3 regularseason innings in a year.
“I’m really just trying to stay where I’m at and focus on today,” said McCullers, who is 29-22 with a 3.67 ERA since 2015 and has 11 postseason appearances to his name.
Before Friday, Baker had only watched McCullers throw on TV. Before McCullers threw his first 2020 bullpen session, Baker praised McCullers’ demeanor and big league intensity.
“You put this guy behind a partition, you’d think he’s 6-5, 235 pounds,” Baker said.
McCullers’ hair is longer now. He’s also not playing video games as often and is tweeting less.
Those last two facts represent major life changes, especially if you remember McCullers’ old social-media presence and know the impact that fatherhood has had on No. 43.
“The things that you did before that you really felt like you wanted to do, those have kind of faded a little bit,” McCullers said.
The righty felt a shoulder issue during 2016 spring training, then changed his mechanics to alleviate the pain and return faster. On-the-fly changes eventually led to a sprained ulnarcollateral ligament and a back issue.
“I knew after that happened that it was just a matter of time before I was going to end up having to have the (Tommy John) surgery,” McCullers said.
He used to keep finding ways to stay on the mound. With a full season devoted to observation, McCullers strengthened his bond with his teammates and rehabbed “from the feet up.”
The next big step: Throwing fire off a major league mound.
“I’m really looking forward to that moment more than anything,” McCullers said. “I’m sure I’ll be nervous. I’m sure I’ll kind of have some of those rookie feelings all over again.”
There were moments when McCullers felt like he was swimming in quicksand. Days when he wondered if he would ever feel the same again.
On the second day of spring training, the Astros hoped-for No. 3 starter was already in a spot the 2020 Astros hope to eventually reach.
“At the end of the day, time passes and you begin to feel better and begin to get back on a more normal routine,” McCullers said.