HOUSTON — Lance McCullers Jr. is to pitching what MacGyver is to gadgets. His mind is always churning. He is ever looking for ways to escape jams, if not avoid them altogether. McCullers had another MacGyver moment last year after both Manuel Margot and Mike Zunino of the Rays smashed his signature pitch, the knuckle-curve, for home runs in the American League Championship Series, where the Astros' season ended.
“I was like, you know what, I really feel like I need something else,” McCullers says.
He needed a pitch with a different shape, especially to show right-handed hitters, in addition to his curveball, sinker and changeup, which all work with a downward orientation.