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Lance McCullers Jr. Placed On 10-Day Injured List

By George Miller | September 9, 2020 at 12:17pm CDT

TODAY: The procedure Baker mentioned was “a mild anti-inflammatory injection to alleviate nerve irritation in [McCullers’] neck,” according to Rome.

SEPT. 8: McCullers “had some procedure done” on his neck, manager Dusty Baker announced (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). The surgery repaired “95 to 98 percent of whatever discomfort he was feeling,” according to Baker, though it’s still unknown when McCullers will return.

SEPT. 6: The Astros have placed right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. on the 10-day injured list due to neck nerve irritation, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Beyond the requisite 10 days on the IL, a timeline for McCullers’s return is unclear. Southpaw Cionel Perez was recalled from the taxi squad to join the active roster.

McCullers pitched Friday against the Angels, failing to record an out and exiting the game after facing just five batters. He walked three Angels hitters and conceded three runs, but stated after the game that his struggles weren’t due to injury.

While we don’t know precisely how long the Astros expect McCullers to be shelved, any injury to an already-thin Houston pitching staff is a significant one. The team has been without ace Justin Verlander for practically the entire season, and Jose Urquidy has only just returned from a bout with COVID-19. As such, Houston has had to rely on inexperienced starters like Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez, and Brandon Bielak.

McCullers, for his part, has had an up-and-down campaign in his return from Tommy John surgery, which cost him all of last year. There’s been a mix of good starts and bad starts, but the numbers indicate for the most part that the 26-year-old is not quite back to the form that earned him an All-Star nod in 2017.

While he’s been known as a strikeout pitcher for his entire career, he’s averaging only 7.7 K/9 in 2020.  McCullers’ sinker velocity is down ever so slightly from previous years, but the more glaring disparity is in his sinker’s spin rate, which has taken a considerable hit from where it was two years ago. That, along with decreased curveball usage (at 35%, he’s throwing the curveball less than ever), has made it more difficult to generate whiffs.

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Houston Astros Transactions Cionel Perez Lance McCullers Jr.

Nationals Place Howie Kendrick On 10-Day Injured List
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Giants Sign Justin Smoak
View Comments (9)
Post a Comment

9 Comments

  1. SashaBanksFan

    5 years ago

    Something did seem off during his last start versus the Angels. His location and velocity wasn’t good.

    1
    Reply
  2. Mrtwotone

    5 years ago

    The Astros and rays have had the worst injury luck

    1
    Reply
  3. Melvin McMurf

    5 years ago

    All those injuries from banging on trash cans…….

    2
    Reply
    • BKS1110

      5 years ago

      He injured his neck right now from banging on a trash can three years ago…?

      Reply
      • 92jays

        5 years ago

        He used his head to bang on the trash can

        Reply
        • jakethesnizake

          5 years ago

          I thought he hurt his neck chokin on Altuves midge-dong, but my source is iffy.

          Reply
      • jjd002

        5 years ago

        They aren’t even trying anymore.

        Reply
  4. Lanidrac

    5 years ago

    How can you use such an exact measurement to describe something like level of discomfort?

    Reply
  5. Bart Harley Jarvis

    5 years ago

    Lance McCullers, Jr. injured? I did not see this coming…

    Reply

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