Players · M · Pitcher · 2026
Lance McCullers Jr.
- Age
- 33
- B/T
- L/R
- Height
- 6' 1"
- Weight
- 200 lb
- Number
- #50
- Born
- October 2, 1993 in Tampa, FL, United States
- MLB debut
- May 18, 2015
- Drafted
- 2012, round C-A
- High school
- Jesuit
- Salary, 2026
- $17.7M
- dbWAR
- 14.7 14 season(s)
- IP
- 44.0
- ERA
- 6.55
- FIP
- 4.97
- K/9
- 9.8
- FIP−
- 119 100 = avg
Lance McCullers Jr. is a starting pitcher for the Houston Astros. In 2026 he struck out 48 batters over 44.0 innings across 10 appearances, 8 of them starts, going 2-3. His ERA of 6.55 is 56.7% higher than the league average of 4.18 — 18th of 20 on his team, and 513th of 538 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.97 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 27.9% of swings (11.6% of every pitch he threw), walked 13.8% of the batters he faced and struck out 24.6%. His 0.1 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.
League context
Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.
WAR by season
Pitching
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | HOU/MIL | 10 | 8 | 44.0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 32 | 48 | 27 | 6.55 | 4.97 | 1.55 | 9.8 | 5.5 | 157 | 119 | 0.1 | |
| 2025 | HOU | 16 | 13 | 55.1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 61 | 40 | 61 | 39 | 6.51 | 5.77 | 1.81 | 9.9 | 6.3 | 156 | 139 | -0.4 | |
| 2022 | HOU | 8 | 8 | 47.2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 12 | 50 | 22 | 2.27 | 3.49 | 1.24 | 9.4 | 4.2 | 57 | 88 | 0.8 | |
| 2021 | HOU | 28 | 28 | 162.1 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 122 | 57 | 185 | 76 | 3.16 | 3.52 | 1.22 | 10.3 | 4.2 | 74 | 83 | 3.4 | |
| 2020 | HOU | 11 | 11 | 55.0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 24 | 56 | 20 | 3.93 | 3.70 | 1.16 | 9.2 | 3.3 | 88 | 83 | 1.1 | |
| 2018 | HOU | 25 | 22 | 128.1 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 100 | 55 | 142 | 50 | 3.86 | 3.50 | 1.17 | 10.0 | 3.5 | 93 | 84 | 2.4 | |
| 2017 | HOU | 22 | 22 | 118.2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 114 | 56 | 132 | 40 | 4.25 | 3.10 | 1.30 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 97 | 71 | 3.0 | |
| 2016 | HOU | 14 | 14 | 81.0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 80 | 29 | 106 | 45 | 3.22 | 3.00 | 1.54 | 11.8 | 5.0 | 77 | 72 | 2.0 | |
| 2015 | HOU | 22 | 22 | 125.2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 106 | 45 | 129 | 43 | 3.22 | 3.26 | 1.19 | 9.2 | 3.1 | 81 | 82 | 2.5 |
Batting
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | HOU | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0% | 75.0% | .000 | -1.1 | -121 | -0.1 | |
| 2018 | HOU | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0% | 50.0% | .000 | -0.5 | -121 | -0.0 | |
| 2017 | HOU | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0% | 0.0% | .000 | -0.8 | -128 | -0.0 | |
| 2016 | HOU | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .000 | .333 | 0.0% | 0.0% | .292 | -0.1 | 85 | 0.1 | |
| 2015 | HOU | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0% | 50.0% | .000 | -0.5 | -126 | -0.0 |
Platoon splits
How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.
| Split | PA | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs LHB | 118 | 101 | 25 | 5 | 16 | 34 | .248 | .356 | .475 | .367 | 28.8% |
| vs RHB | 77 | 65 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 14 | .246 | .364 | .431 | .356 | 18.2% |
Pitch sequencing
What Lance McCullers Jr. throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.
Select a count to see exactly what Lance McCullers Jr. throws in it.
Pitch arsenal
What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.
| Cutter | 219 | 89.0 | 2,335 | 49.3% | 21.7% | 40 | .275 | .833 | |
| Sinker | 174 | 91.2 | 2,069 | 48.3% | 11.6% | 36 | .222 | .793 | |
| Sweeper | 137 | 82.3 | 2,701 | 40.9% | 30.2% | 35 | .229 | .800 | |
| Changeup | 118 | 85.4 | 1,709 | 33.1% | 38.3% | 23 | .261 | .726 | |
| Knuckle Curve | 116 | 81.6 | 2,817 | 43.1% | 45.6% | 28 | .214 | .741 | |
| Four-Seam Fastball | 29 | 91.6 | 2,138 | 31.0% | 33.3% | 5 | — | — |
Head to head
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Or read one already written — Lance McCullers Jr. against:
Similar players
Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.
wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.