Lance McCullers Jr.
P | Bats/Throws: L/R | 6' 1" 202LBS | Age: 30
Draft: 2012 | Rd: C-A, #41, Houston Astros | Jesuit HS (FL)
W L ERA G GS SV IP SO WHIP
2020 3 3 3.93 11 11 0 55 56 1.16
2021 13 5 3.16 28 28 0 162.1 185 1.22
2022 4 2 2.27 8 8 0 47.2 50 1.24
7 Seasons 49 32 3.48 130 127 0 718.2 800 1.25
G W-L ERA IP SO WHIP
2020 11 3-3 3.93 55 56 1.16
2021 28 13-5 3.16 162.1 185 1.22
2022 8 4-2 2.27 47.2 50 1.24
7 Seasons 130 49-32 3.48 718.2 800 1.25
MLB Percentile Rankings
Pitch Distribution

Statcast Statistics

Season Age Pitches Batted
Balls
Barrels Barrel % Barrel/PA Exit
Velocity
Max EV Launch
Angle
Sweet
Spot %
XBA XSLG WOBA XWOBA XWOBACON HardHit% K% BB% ERA xERA
2015 21 2109 343 23 6.7 4.4 88.5 111.6 9.5 32.1 .232 .376 .289 .300 .362 32.1 24.8 8.3 3.22 3.69
2016 22 1342 201 11 5.5 3.1 88.5 111.5 2.7 29.4 .214 .326 .325 .289 .353 35.3 30.1 12.8 3.22 3.48
2017 23 2014 329 15 4.6 2.9 87.4 114.9 1.0 30.4 .231 .345 .305 .291 .347 32.8 25.8 7.8 4.25 3.60
2018 24 2108 328 27 8.2 5.1 89.2 112.7 5.4 32.0 .220 .362 .289 .299 .361 35.1 26.9 9.5 3.86 3.76
2020 26 884 146 15 10.3 6.6 89.3 111.3 3.8 30.8 .243 .409 .308 .327 .388 34.9 24.7 8.8 3.93 4.58
2021 27 2788 413 22 5.3 3.2 89.8 117.3 5.1 25.9 .208 .314 .283 .284 .326 40.7 27.0 11.1 3.16 3.37
2022 28 759 123 6 4.9 3.1 87.7 111.3 8.0 26.8 .224 .342 .287 .294 .343 32.5 25.6 11.3 2.27 3.57
Player 12004 1883 119 6.3 3.9 88.8 117.3 5.1 29.7 .223 .349 .296 .295 .351 35.2 26.5 9.8
MLB 6.9 4.7 88.4 122.4 12.2 33.1 .245 .406 .316 .315 .369 36.3 22.1 8.4
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Statcast Pitch Arsenal

McCullers relies on 5 pitches.
Slider
(25.4%) ,
Knuckle Curve
(24.9%) ,
Sinker
(24.5%) ,
Changeup
(17.4%) ,
Cutter
(7.8%) ,


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+ If Available Pitches Click to Video.
+ Similar Pitchers to Lance McCullers Jr. Based on Velocity and Movement:


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Pitch Tracking



Batted Ball Profile

Season GB % FB % LD % PU % Pull % Straight % Oppo % Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel % Barrel/PA
2015 48.4 19.5 26.2 5.8 32.7 42.0 25.4 1.2 39.4 22.7 24.8 4.1 6.7 4.4
2016 58.7 15.4 23.4 2.5 26.9 41.8 31.3 2.5 49.3 12.4 23.4 6.0 5.5 3.1
2017 62.3 11.9 23.4 2.4 38.0 42.2 19.8 4.6 47.7 12.2 24.6 4.3 4.6 2.9
2018 55.5 17.4 24.4 2.7 41.2 38.1 18.9 2.4 45.1 18.6 19.5 5.5 8.2 5.1
2020 60.3 15.8 19.9 4.1 44.5 34.9 20.5 2.1 47.9 12.3 22.6 4.8 10.3 6.6
2021 56.9 19.9 19.9 3.4 35.1 37.0 27.8 1.9 44.8 19.9 22.8 5.3 5.3 3.2
2022 50.4 24.4 19.5 5.7 41.5 33.3 25.2 1.6 42.3 22.8 22.0 6.5 4.9 3.1
Player 56.1 17.5 22.8 3.7 36.5 39.1 24.1 2.4 44.9 17.6 22.9 5.0 6.3 3.9
MLB 44.6 23.5 24.9 7.0 37.0 37.6 25.3 3.9 32.9 24.7 24.4 5.8 6.9 4.7
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Pitch Movement


How this works: Every pitch is affected by the forces of gravity, which means that every pitch drops on its way from the mound to the plate. These numbers are reported with gravity, which makes them larger and different than other pitch movement numbers you may have seen. Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren’t ‘better’ just because they have more time to move, the movement of a pitch is compared to ‘average’ movement by comparing it to other MLB pitch types within +/- 2 MPH and from within +/- 0.5 feet of extension and release.
Vertical Movement (inches) Horizontal Movement (inches)
Year Pitch Team Hand # MPH Inches of Drop vs Avg % vs Avg Inches of Break vs Avg % Break vs Avg
2022 Sinker HOU R 186 93.1 26.1 2.2 9 13.4 -2.0 -13
2022 Changeup HOU R 132 87.0 38.0 6.2 19 17.3 2.1 14
2022 Cutter HOU R 59 88.3 29.8 -3.6 -14 3.8 2.4 172
2022 Slider HOU R 193 85.1 33.5 -2.8 -8 13.2 7.7 141
2022 Curveball HOU R 189 82.7 50.6 2.8 6 13.6 5.0 59
2021 Curveball HOU R 692 84.2 49.3 2.2 5 11.9 2.7 29
2021 Changeup HOU R 383 85.8 37.6 5.3 16 17.2 2.1 14
2021 Slider HOU R 721 86.0 32.5 -3.0 -8 13.7 7.2 112
2021 Cutter HOU R 41 89.8 28.0 -2.1 -8 2.9 1.4 93
2021 Sinker HOU R 948 93.9 24.9 2.1 9 13.7 -1.5 -10
2020 Changeup HOU R 163 86.3 35.2 4.0 13 16.6 2.4 17
2020 Cutter HOU R 16 91.6 23.5 -0.2 -1 0.9 -2.3 -160
2020 Curveball HOU R 332 83.4 50.2 2.5 5 11.7 2.6 29
2020 4-Seam Fastball HOU R 4 93.0 19.5 -3.4 -21 9.1 1.1 14
2020 Sinker HOU R 369 93.8 23.9 1.8 8 14.8 -0.3 -2
2018 Curveball HOU R 982 85.8 45.6 0.5 1 7.4 -0.8 -10
2018 Changeup HOU R 339 87.3 34.4 2.9 9 17.4 3.1 22
2018 Sinker HOU R 767 94.2 22.5 0.6 3 15.6 0.5 3
2018 4-Seam Fastball HOU R 18 93.8 17.1 -0.8 -5 5.6 -2.7 -33
2017 4-Seam Fastball HOU R 491 94.2 20.4 -5.7 -38 13.4 4.6 51
2017 Changeup HOU R 230 88.7 32.1 3.9 14 17.3 2.8 20
2017 Sinker HOU R 326 94.1 23.9 2.8 13 15.0 -0.3 -2
2017 Curveball HOU R 952 85.6 48.5 4.8 11 7.2 -0.9 -11
2016 4-Seam Fastball HOU R 564 94.4 20.0 -2.9 -17 3.5 -4.8 -58
2016 Curveball HOU R 661 85.7 48.4 4.0 9 14.6 2.6 22
2016 Changeup HOU R 102 89.3 32.1 1.5 5 11.0 -2.9 -21
2015 Sinker HOU R 44 96.1 19.6 -1.0 -5 11.1 -3.6 -24
2015 4-Seam Fastball HOU R 1,086 95.1 16.6 -0.5 -3 2.1 -5.9 -74
2015 Changeup HOU R 202 89.5 30.7 0.6 2 11.3 -1.3 -11
2015 Curveball HOU R 760 84.7 49.1 3.6 8 13.9 3.0 27
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
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Run Values by Pitch Type

Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit %
2022 Slider 3.4 7 193 25.4 59 .185 .222 .224 31.8 33.9 29.9 .159 .210 .207 26.5
2022 Curveball 2.9 5 189 24.9 52 .116 .163 .208 37.2 36.5 30.6 .164 .208 .243 32.0
2022 Sinker -3.0 -6 186 24.5 44 .421 .842 .555 6.5 2.3 4.3 .400 .789 .536 40.5
2022 Changeup 1.5 2 132 17.4 30 .214 .250 .238 30.9 30.0 22.5 .225 .254 .242 36.8
2022 Cutter 3.0 2 59 7.8 10 .000 .000 .070 31.8 10.0 20.0 .143 .161 .193 12.5
2021 Sinker 0.4 4 949 34.0 239 .293 .476 .389 16.6 15.1 18.6 .277 .423 .352 52.3
2021 Slider 1.8 13 721 25.9 188 .150 .244 .260 35.9 36.7 24.6 .144 .231 .237 25.0
2021 Curveball 1.9 13 694 24.9 179 .149 .214 .244 36.7 30.7 27.0 .185 .274 .272 40.0
2021 Changeup -0.5 -2 383 13.7 75 .183 .282 .239 38.5 32.0 24.0 .203 .271 .232 29.8
2021 Cutter -2.8 -1 41 1.5 3 .333 .667 .417 42.9 33.3 8.3 .192 .366 .231 50.0
2020 Sinker 0.2 1 369 41.7 101 .224 .388 .326 14.6 13.9 17.9 .269 .413 .354 34.7
2020 Curveball -0.8 -3 332 37.6 83 .224 .461 .332 42.1 33.7 28.0 .234 .477 .332 33.3
2020 Changeup 0.0 0 163 18.4 34 .200 .300 .278 35.2 26.5 23.1 .213 .271 .271 36.4
2020 Cutter 0.6 0 16 1.8 6 .167 .333 .208 50.0 83.3 55.6 .122 .150 .117 0.0
2020 4-Seam Fastball -9.9 0 4 0.5 3 .333 .667 .417 0.0 0.0 0.0 .279 .465 .306 66.7
2018 Curveball 0.3 3 982 46.6 278 .206 .354 .292 36.7 34.9 24.7 .209 .345 .273 34.0
2018 Sinker -0.4 -3 767 36.4 173 .264 .429 .368 16.6 13.9 17.6 .256 .431 .370 37.3
2018 Changeup 1.5 5 339 16.1 73 .136 .182 .183 41.5 28.8 26.9 .182 .274 .236 32.6
2018 4-Seam Fastball -5.1 -1 18 0.9 3 .500 1.000 .650 0.0 0.0 0.0 .390 .630 .520 50.0
2017 Curveball 1.8 18 952 47.3 296 .201 .305 .272 36.5 36.1 28.4 .193 .300 .253 34.1
2017 4-Seam Fastball -0.4 -2 491 24.4 86 .243 .429 .374 15.0 11.6 13.7 .277 .479 .385 29.5
2017 Sinker -2.4 -8 326 16.2 77 .357 .471 .433 11.0 9.1 14.0 .302 .402 .340 39.7
2017 Changeup -3.4 -8 230 11.4 48 .400 .556 .443 30.8 14.6 13.0 .285 .333 .295 21.1
! Note: Years are in reverse order.
! Note: To better align with other values, positive numbers (red) are good, and negative numbers (blue) are poor.
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Spin Direction

Year Pitch Type Pitches MPH Active Spin % Total Movement (In.) Spin-Based Observed Deviation
2022 Changeup 132 87.0 94 18.6 2:45 3:15 -30
2022 Cutter 57 88.3 27 6.4 10:45 10:30 15
2022 Knuckle Curve 178 82.7 76 19.4 7:45 7:30 15
2022 Sinker 181 93.1 74 14.9 1:45 2:30 -45
2022 Slider 191 85.1 48 14.5 8:30 9:30 -60
2021 Changeup 380 85.8 94 18.5 2:45 3:15 -30
2021 Cutter 41 89.8 26 6.7 11:15 11:00 15
2021 Knuckle Curve 673 84.1 70 18.0 7:45 7:30 15
2021 Sinker 945 93.9 75 15.3 1:30 2:15 -45
2021 Slider 713 86.0 43 15.0 8:30 9:30 -60
2020 Changeup 160 86.3 89 17.7 2:15 3:00 -45
2020 Cutter 16 91.6 49 8.4 12:30 12:00 30
2020 Knuckle Curve 329 83.4 72 18.1 7:30 7:30 0
2020 Sinker 337 93.9 79 16.8 1:15 2:15 -60
! Note: This table is showing data from the PITCHER perspective.
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Swing/Take

Runs
Year Team PA Pitches Heart Shadow Chase Waste All
2015 543 2,209 14 23 -13 -9 15
2016 351 1,338 1 13 -1 -3 10
2017 589 2,320 8 15 -8 -11 4
2018 547 2,197 9 18 -11 -11 5
2020 292 1,134 -5 10 -5 -7 -7
2021 726 2,965 33 35 -21 -17 30
2022 262 1,025 6 10 -5 -5 7
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Plate Discipline

Season Pitches Zone % Zone Swing % Zone Contact % Chase % Chase Contact % Edge % 1st Pitch Strike % Swing % Whiff % Meatball % Meatball Swing %
2015 2,109 48.6 61.6 86.7 26.6 50.7 39.0 57.1 43.5 24.5 8.0 70.2
2016 1,342 46.8 59.5 83.6 30.1 42.3 42.6 56.3 43.8 31.3 7.2 73.2
2017 2,014 45.3 63.8 86.5 30.4 46.2 41.8 55.7 45.6 28.0 6.6 63.4
2018 2,108 47.2 64.7 78.7 28.5 45.4 42.2 59.8 45.5 31.3 8.0 67.9
2020 884 47.4 56.6 83.1 26.2 44.3 44.9 58.1 40.6 29.5 5.7 72.0
2021 2,788 46.6 59.4 83.3 26.1 42.5 38.6 55.6 41.6 30.2 7.6 69.2
2022 759 46.8 61.1 85.3 27.5 48.6 40.3 53.8 43.2 27.1 6.7 62.7
Player 12,004 46.9 61.3 83.7 27.9 45.5 40.9 56.7 43.6 28.9 7.3 68.5
MLB 48.6 67.0 82.0 28.5 58.0 42.6 60.9 47.1 24.8 7.3 76.1
! Note: All figures in this table cover the period 2015-present.

Percentile Rankings

Year xwOBA /
xERA
xBA xSLG xISO xOBP Brl Brl% EV Hard
Hit%
K% BB% Whiff% Chase
Rate
FB
Velo
FB
Spin
CB
Spin
Extension
2015 61 63 56 47 58 25 15 35 57 77 33 64 20 82 85 93 59
2016 75 86 89 85 49 65 61 51 42 92 2 93 64 73 78 97 47
2017 74 70 84 85 62 47 74 43 54 74 59 77 76 69 69 95 43
2018 59 73 69 58 56 24 20 23 52 75 29 84 57 71 59 88 32
2020 39 46 47 46 40 6 14 31 61 56 47 70 35 59 13 79 32
2021 78 84 92 91 58 36 86 25 32 72 17 78 30 58 26 93 22
2022 36 21 97 11
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Expected Home Runs

Year Team Avg HR Trot Actual HR xHR HR-xHR Doubters Mostly Gone No Doubters No Doubter %
2016 22.2 5 6.7 -2 5 6 2 40.0
2017 22.4 9 8.7 0 8 6 3 33.3
2018 22.7 12 11.6 0 6 9 5 41.7
2020 22.3 12 11.8 0 5 13 3 25.0
2021 23.7 14 10.1 4 6 9 5 35.7
2022 24.0 9 7.4 2 3 5 3 33.3
Player 22.9 61 56.3 5 33 48 21 34.4

Expected Home Runs by Park

Year HR
2016 5 6 4 7 6 6 6 7 4 6 6 6 8 6 6 7 6 6 7 5 8 6 10 11 8 7 5 8 9 7 6
2017 9 8 7 9 10 9 10 9 5 6 8 12 9 8 8 9 7 8 8 9 8 12 11 9 8 7 8 11 11 11 6
2018 12 15 7 11 12 11 13 12 8 9 7 12 14 10 11 15 12 12 13 13 12 13 14 15 10 11 8 13 15 12 7
2020 12 16 9 13 10 15 12 14 6 7 7 10 12 9 14 9 15 14 10 15 15 11 18 11 14 9 10 10 15 14 11
2021 14 11 10 15 11 10 12 13 8 6 6 14 10 5 11 15 9 10 9 11 8 9 14 10 10 7 12 12 8 7 11
2022 9 5 6 8 8 8 8 6 7 7 8 8 6 6 8 8 6 7 8 9 8 9 9 7 6 7 9 9 8 8 6
Player 61 61 43 63 57 59 61 61 38 41 42 62 59 44 58 63 55 57 55 62 59 60 76 63 56 48 52 63 66 59 47
! Note: This tells how many of this player's home runs would have been out of other stadiums. This accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects. For these purposes, the 2020 Blue Jays home field was still Rogers Centre, not Sahlen Field.
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Year to Year Changes

Metric 2015 2016 +/-   2017 +/-   2018 +/-   2019 +/-   2020 +/-   2021 +/-   2022 +/-  
Fastball Velocity 95.1 94.4 -0.7 94.2 -0.2 -- 0.0 -- -- 93.7 -- 93.8 0.1 91.9 -1.9
Offspeed Velocity 89.5 89.3 -0.2 88.7 -0.6 -- -1.4 -- -- 86.3 -- 85.8 -0.5 87.0 1.2
Breaking Velocity 84.7 85.7 1.0 85.6 -0.1 -- 0.2 -- -- 83.4 -- 85.1 1.7 83.9 -1.2
Exit Velocity 88.5 88.5 0.0 87.4 -1.1 -- 1.8 -- -- 89.3 -- 89.8 0.5 87.7 -2.1
Launch Angle 9.5 2.7 -6.8 1.0 -1.7 -- 4.4 -- -- 3.8 -- 5.1 1.3 8.0 2.9
Barrel % 6.7 5.5 -1.2 4.6 -0.9 -- 3.6 -- -- 10.3 -- 5.3 -5.0 4.9 -0.4
Hard Hit % 32.1 35.3 3.2 32.8 -2.5 -- 2.3 -- -- 34.9 -- 40.7 5.8 32.5 -8.2
Sweet Spot % 32.1 29.4 -2.7 30.4 1.0 -- 1.6 -- -- 30.8 -- 25.9 -4.9 26.8 0.9
xBA .232 .214 -0.018 .231 0.017 -- -0.011 -- -- .243 -- .208 -0.035 .224 0.016
BA .226 .261 0.035 .249 -0.012 -- -0.034 -- -- .220 -- .205 -0.015 .215 0.010
xwOBA .300 .289 -0.011 .291 0.002 -- 0.008 -- -- .327 -- .284 -0.043 .294 0.010
wOBA .289 .325 0.036 .305 -0.020 -- -0.016 -- -- .308 -- .283 -0.025 .287 0.004
xSLG .376 .326 -0.050 .345 0.019 -- 0.017 -- -- .409 -- .314 -0.095 .342 0.028
SLG .362 .381 0.019 .372 -0.009 -- -0.017 -- -- .405 -- .324 -0.081 .337 0.013
K% 24.8 30.1 5.3 25.8 -4.3 -- 1.1 -- -- 24.7 -- 27.0 2.3 25.6 -1.4
BB% 8.3 12.8 4.5 7.8 -5.0 -- 1.7 -- -- 8.8 -- 11.1 2.3 11.3 0.2
Swing % 43.5 43.8 0.3 45.6 1.8 -- -0.1 -- -- 40.6 -- 41.6 1.0 43.2 1.6
Whiff% 24.5 31.3 6.8 28.0 -3.3 -- 3.3 -- -- 29.5 -- 30.2 0.7 27.1 -3.1
In Zone % 48.6 46.8 -1.8 45.3 -1.5 -- 1.9 -- -- 47.4 -- 46.6 -0.8 46.8 0.2
Out of Zone % 51.4 53.2 1.8 54.7 1.5 -- -1.9 -- -- 52.6 -- 53.4 0.8 53.2 -0.2
Out of Zone Swing % 26.6 30.1 3.5 30.4 0.3 -- -1.9 -- -- 26.2 -- 26.1 -0.1 27.5 1.4
First Pitch Swing % 24.4 26.7 2.3 27.0 0.3 -- 0.7 -- -- 22.5 -- 22.8 0.3 25.6 2.8
First Pitch Strike % 57.1 56.3 -0.8 55.7 -0.6 -- 4.1 -- -- 58.1 -- 55.6 -2.5 53.8 -1.8
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Statcast Fielder Positioning

vs RHHvs LHH
YearAlignment TypePAwOBAPATotal%PATotal%
2016 Shifts 333 .332 177 26 14.7 156 96 61.5
2017 Shifts 509 .306 292 62 21.2 217 105 48.4
2018 Shifts 527 .289 272 90 33.1 255 170 66.7
2020 Shifts 227 .308 109 19 17.4 118 81 68.6
2021 Shifts 684 .283 349 67 19.2 335 293 87.5
2022 Shifts 195 .287 99 17 17.2 96 87 90.6
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift: three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of their typical responsible slices of the field.
Learn more about how positioning is defined here

Pitch Tempo

Bases EmptyRunners On Base
SeasonTeamPitchesTempoFast %Slow %PitchesTempoFast %Slow %
2015 627 16.8 35.9% 3.3% 411 23.8 7.1% 21.7%
2016 368 16.0 42.1% 4.6% 274 23.3 8.4% 13.5%
2017 579 16.8 23.8% 2.1% 364 23.5 0.5% 14.8%
2018 677 16.8 24.8% 3.0% 304 21.7 1.0% 9.5%
2020 298 16.1 28.5% 0.3% 152 23.4 0.0% 14.5%
2021 836 16.8 27.6% 1.0% 568 25.8 0.0% 23.1%
2022 229 16.6 27.9% 1.7% 142 26.3 0.0% 25.4%
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Pitch Distribution