The Houston Astros, while suffering through some bad years at the major league level, have loaded up their minor league system recently and are seeing results all over the map. Keith Law of ESPN.com put the Astros’ farm system at the top of the MLB heap in his rankings at the end of January.
The names that Baseball America listed for the Astros on their 2014 Top 10 Prospects list are also featured on many overall prospect lists. Carlos Correa, George Springer and Mark Appel are all coveted talents that are honing their skills at various levels of the Astro organization, with MLB arrival dates approaching rapidly.
RHP Lance McCullers is #5 on that Baseball America list and he has been successful over two pro seasons with a fastball that tops out at 98 MPH and a downward breaking curve/slider pitch that gets hitters out. His father was a flamethrowing reliever who took over the closer role from Rich “Goose” Gossage in the San Diego Padres bullpen in the 1980’s.
What role McCullers occupies in the majors remains to be seen. BA opines that if he can develop a changeup that he can throw with conviction, he will be a starter. If not, it’s bullpen duty for the talented righty.
Regardless, McCullers pitched at loA Quad Cities last season and could be headed for Lancaster in 2014. The Astros may or may not want to expose their prized pitcher to the launching-pad environs of the Cal League, so he could start the year in the Texas League with Corpus Christi, pending what goes on in the spring. But McCullers could very well be a Jethawk so he’s definitely on the Cal League Heat radar.
McCullers fielded questions from MiLB.com’s Robert Emrich recently and here is the thoughtful Q&A that resulted from that conversation:
PROSPECT Q&A: MCCULLERS ON FAMILIAR PATH by Robert Emrich
