IMAGE: Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) speaks to pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) during a spring training workout at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches. \/ Sam Navarro \/ Imagn Images<\/div>\n
Lance McCullers Jr. Faces a Pivotal Season with the Astros – and Possibly His Last<\/strong><\/p>\nWEST PALM BEACH, Fla.<\/em> – Once the firebrand with Batman cleats and a chip on his shoulder big enough to fuel a postseason run, Lance McCullers Jr. now speaks with the calm of a man who\u2019s been through it – and come out the other side with perspective.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m old now,\u201d he said with a smile, and while that\u2019s a bit of a stretch – he turns 33 in October – it\u2019s clear McCullers is no longer the same wide-eyed 18-year-old flamethrower who burst onto the scene with swagger and a wipeout curveball. Injuries have reshaped his career, and time has softened some of the edges.<\/p>\n
But the heart? Still there.<\/p>\n
The fire? Still flickering.<\/p>\n
McCullers has only logged 103 innings over the last four seasons, missing two of them entirely due to arm surgeries. It\u2019s been a frustrating stretch for a pitcher who once looked like a cornerstone of the Astros\u2019 rotation. Now, with his five-year, $85 million contract set to expire at season\u2019s end, McCullers is facing a crossroads – and he\u2019s not shying away from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not coming into the year thinking, \u2018If I don\u2019t pitch well or I\u2019m not healthy, what am I going to do?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be able to provide for my family, and we\u2019re going to spend a lot of time together. But if I am healthy and that\u2019s in the plan for me, I would love to keep playing baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not an ultimatum. It\u2019s a man being honest about where he is – physically, mentally, emotionally – as he enters what could be his final season in an Astros uniform.<\/p>\n
And if it is? McCullers has already left a mark that won\u2019t fade.<\/p>\n
He was on the mound when Houston clinched its first American League pennant. He started the final game of their first World Series title run.<\/p>\n
He made an All-Star team in 2017, finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2021, and, according to Spotrac, will finish this season with nearly $100 million in career earnings. That\u2019s a legacy, regardless of what comes next.<\/p>\n
But make no mistake – McCullers still wants to pitch. He just wants to do it on his terms, and more than anything, he wants to be good for the organization that drafted him and the fan base that\u2019s watched him grow up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I just need to kind of let go,\u201d he said. \u201cStop trying to control everything. I would love to be good, not because I necessarily want to continue to play, but because I would love to be good for this organization and this fan base in my last year here.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the mindset he\u2019s carrying into spring training – one that\u2019s equal parts hopeful and realistic. McCullers ended last season with a 6.51 ERA over 55 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
He struggled to pitch deep into games, throwing four or fewer innings in more than half of his 13 starts. Eventually, the Astros moved him into a relief role.<\/p>\n
Still, both manager Joe Espada and GM Dana Brown have made it clear: McCullers will be treated as a starter this spring. And there\u2019s reason for optimism. For the first time in five years, he\u2019s had a healthy offseason – no rehab, no setbacks, just training and refining.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a really good offseason physically,\u201d Espada said. \u201cHe is healthy, but he\u2019s also in a really good frame of mind.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what\u2019s so important – him believing that he still has the stuff, the capability and desire to put people away. He can do that.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s shown that.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCullers knows it too. He\u2019s made mechanical and strategic adjustments, dialing back his reliance on the sweeper – a pitch he admitted he was \u201cobsessed\u201d with last season – and refocusing on his four-seam fastball. He\u2019s working to better differentiate his changeup from his sinker and vary the location of his pitches more effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things going into the offseason I needed to accomplish, and where I stand now, I\u2019ve accomplished those goals,\u201d McCullers said. \u201cBut it has to carry into the game.<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s feeling good. Everyone\u2019s stuff\u2019s feeling good.<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s recovering well. But no one\u2019s faced hitters yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the great unknown. Since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019, McCullers has thrown just over 320 innings – more than half of them in 2021.<\/p>\n
That season, he looked like the ace the Astros had long envisioned. But the years since have been a carousel of setbacks, rehabs, and frustration.<\/p>\n
Through it all, McCullers has remained loyal to the only organization he\u2019s ever known. He signed his extension in 2021 after telling agent Scott Boras he had no interest in pitching anywhere else. Houston is home – and not just because he\u2019s worn the jersey for over a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to have a nice last year with this uniform on,\u201d McCullers said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in this organization since I was barely 18 years old. So it would be great to just have a nice last year here, and whatever the future holds, the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether that future includes more baseball or more time at home with his wife and two daughters, McCullers seems at peace with either outcome. But don\u2019t mistake peace for complacency. The competitor in him still wants to take the ball every fifth day, still wants to compete, still wants to show he can help a team win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the future for me is to be home with [my family], I\u2019ll be happy with that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be content with that. If the future for me is to be in this game, if I can be healthy and I can help a team win, I\u2019ll be happy with that too.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, the focus is on one more run in Houston – one more chance to show the city that fell in love with him as a teenager that he\u2019s still got something left in the tank. And if this is the final chapter? McCullers is determined to make it count.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IMAGE: Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) speaks to pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) during a spring training workout at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches. \/… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n
Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IMAGE: Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) speaks to pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) during a spring training workout at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches. \/...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903\",\"name\":\"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06\",\"name\":\"XuanTan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"XuanTan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA","og_description":"IMAGE: Houston Astros manager Joe Espada (19) speaks to pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) during a spring training workout at CACTI Park of The Palm Beaches. \/...","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"XuanTan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"XuanTan","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903","name":"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-18T16:55:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Rinrin-28-2.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=153903#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr Signals Major Shift in Career Path"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ac862d5ceb335ec8f1e374ed4bdb0c06","name":"XuanTan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f0d0d8858cf9c64fc1f3105c62cff269864cf9a26f88149688bdf4dc953df45?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"XuanTan"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=153903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153905,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153903\/revisions\/153905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/153904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=153903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=153903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=153903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/files.fanbeat.win\/art\/rrMEI76YokZZ.avif\")
<\/p>\n