RADIO
Lance McCullers Jr. 2022 Player Outlook: Solid Floor, High Ceiling For An Affordable Price
3 years agoMcCullers Jr. reached a new career-high in innings pitched (162.1) and pitched quite well in that time winning 13 games with a 3.16 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a 27% K%. It was not surprising to see him have a very successful year given the health, as he has always clearly been a very talented pitcher. The way he did it was quite interesting, however, as he added a new pitch to his repertoire (a slider) and used it a ton (26% usage). That slider racked up an elite 34.7% CSW% and a 15.1% SwStr% and worked great alongside his sinker which piled up a great 63.4% GB%. While he posted another high walk rate (11.1%), his high strikeout rate as well as his sky-high ground-ball rate (56.4%) kept runs off the board. You could argue that he did benefit from some good luck in the home runs arena (0.72 HR/9) but repeating that would not be completely unbelievable given how good he is at keeping the ball on the ground. At the age of 28 and with the electric stuff he has, selecting McCullers Jr. at pick #145 (his current ADP) seems like a steal.
