After death threats, Lance McCullers Jr. returns with ‘step in the right direction’

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Patience precipitates progress, a truth the Houston Astros are attempting to prove. Lance McCullers Jr. is on a path few pitchers have traveled, trying a midseason comeback after a 915-day absence. Instant success seems impossible. Implosions are almost expected.

When McCullers authored one last week, support surged in. From a manager who pounded a table and pleaded for tolerance amid death threats aimed at his pitcher. From teammates who showered one of the franchise’s longest-tenured players with whatever he needed to endure another day.

“I hope one day I’m able to repay the favor (of) what these guys in here have meant to me over the last couple years and over this last week,” McCullers said.

Faith and prayer propelled McCullers through one of the more trying weeks of his career. Collecting just one out during last Saturday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds provoked threats on the lives of McCullers and his children.

On Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Houston Police Department had no further update other than to acknowledge the investigation into the threats against McCullers remains ongoing. McCullers declined further comment but did say “they’re on it” and “these things aren’t taken lightly.”

“For me, there’s no other way through it than through it,” McCullers said. “You show up the next day. Weeks like this week are the ones you have to work the hardest. You have to rededicate, try to figure out what went wrong and try to keep pushing through. You sulk on it too long and you’re just going to be in a pissy mood and be a bad teammate. You try to just put it behind you, move forward to better days.”

One occurred Friday evening at Globe Life Field. McCullers contributed to a needed victory in a crucial series while showing tangible signs of progress in his return from flexor tendon surgery. Throwing four innings is hardly cause for celebration, but for McCullers, it represented a meaningful measure during this daunting journey.

Lance McCullers Jr. issued just one walk Friday. (Sam Hodde / Getty Images)

“I thought it was a big step in the right direction for me,” McCullers said after Houston’s 6-3 win against the Texas Rangers.

“I felt like I was seeing the game. I felt like I was clear on my approach to the hitters, felt like I was attacking the hitters the way we were planning to. Thought (catcher Victor Caratini) did a good job with the pitch calling. Of course, you want to go more than four innings, but I think we’re on our way.”

McCullers yielded two unearned runs and stranded three runners in scoring position. He struck out two, walked a batter and plunked another. Texas totaled four hits against him but averaged just an 89 mph exit velocity on the 15 balls it put in play. Of the 38 swings it took, just seven were whiffs.

McCullers threw seven different pitches — even showcasing the four-seam fastball he seldom uses — while trying to analyze how his arsenal plays after such a prolonged absence.

He spun some rare sliders to left-handed hitters in the first inning but became too predictable with them as the game progressed. Some right-on-right changeups also appeared in an effort to get quicker outs. McCullers manipulated his sinker, too, throwing some backdoor two-seamers after not showing any of them in his first two outings.

“He’s figuring out his identity,” manager Joe Espada said. “He knows the weapons he has. He’s trying to get a feel for what pitches work for him in different counts. … All that stuff is going to take some time. But I thought today, the job he did against this lineup, was a solid job.”

Command that eluded McCullers across his first two appearances started to creep back toward normal. He threw 53 of his 83 pitches for strikes, a 63.8 percent clip higher than what he posted during his last full major-league season. Twelve of the 19 Rangers he faced either saw a first-pitch strike or fell into a 1-2 count.

“I’m starting to feel comfortable,” McCullers said. “Starting to feel that I’m able to attack multiple parts of the zone when I attack these guys.”

Efficiency still eluded McCullers, but he’s never been a pitcher praised for low pitch counts. He issued a major-league-leading 76 walks while averaging 4.07 pitches per plate appearance during his last full season in 2021. The major-league average is 3.88 pitches per plate appearance.

McCullers required 68 pitches to procure his first nine outs Friday. The Rangers fouled off 16 pitches, prolonging plate appearances that McCullers must find ways to curtail.

Harnessing his put-away pitches is the most obvious means — and the next step in McCullers’ evolution. Of the 16 pitches Texas spoiled foul on Friday, 10 were either sliders or changeups. Joc Pederson fought off three of them in a third-inning at-bat before failing to stop on a check swing against a wild sinker that flew into the other batter’s box.

Pederson’s nine-pitch punchout personified the plight McCullers is facing. That Adolis García followed by rolling over a first-pitch sinker for a groundout demonstrated how close he is creeping toward closing it.

Procuring 12 outs preserved a bullpen McCullers put in an awful position last weekend against the Reds. Five teammates totaled five innings of one-run relief Friday, allowing the Astros to author a six-run seventh inning and secure a game McCullers kept close.

Espada pulled McCullers after four innings to “build something positive for his next outing.” If not for a defensive gaffe during the second inning, McCullers might’ve completed five frames for the first time since Oct. 3, 2022.

Instead, McCullers and shortstop Jeremy Peña teamed to botch a tailor-made double play from Evan Carter that could’ve concluded the frame after 10 pitches.

McCullers fielded Carter’s comebacker but uncorked a relay throw that resembled his sinker, tailing down toward the bag and away from Peña’s chest-high target. A Gold Glove shortstop still must catch it. Peña whiffed entirely.

“I said, ‘My bad,’ to Jeremy. He said his bad to me,” McCullers said. “This is one of those plays where we both wish we could’ve done a little bit better.”

The error extended the inning that derailed McCullers’ outing. He threw 17 extra pitches he shouldn’t have. Jonah Heim and Josh Smith both struck singles in at-bats that never should’ve occurred. Heim’s sent home the only two runs on McCullers’ line.

“All things considered,” McCullers said, “I’m on the right path.”

(Top photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)

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