2023 Projection - Seth Martinez and Lance McCullers, Jr.
Surprise contributor and long-term question mark
Seth Martinez
Martinez only pitched 38.2 innings over 29 appearances in 2022, but he gave the Astros multiple innings out of the bullpen 6 times, including 3 innings twice.
For a guy that ended up with a 0.4 WAR he played an important role and I see that expanding slightly in 2023.
Martinez is a low leverage reliever that can give you multiple innings and every team needs that at some point in the season.
Lance McCullers, Jr.
A few years ago I scoffed at the notion that Lance McCullers, Jr. was injury prone, but man, it sure seems that way now.
The Astros got only 47.2 regular season innings out of McCullers, Jr. last year for almost $16,000,000 in salary and 2023 could be similar.
I’m not suggesting that’s anyone’s “fault”, I’m just stating a fact.
Without Verlander every fifth day and with McCullers, Jr. out for some unknown period of time, the deep Astros rotation has taken a serious hit.
McCullers is reminding me of the "if it's ____ball season, it's injury season" tenure endured by Houston Texans fans with Jadeveon Clowney. These "world class athletes," with their finely-tuned-machine bodies seem to be all but made of glass. I've seen century-old Wedgwood pieces that are less fragile than these two!