Lance Graye McCullers Jr. (born October 2, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Astros selected McCullers in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2015, and was an All-Star in 2017. High school McCullers graduated from Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. He was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year in 2012. Professional baseball career Draft and minor leagues 2012–15 The Houston Astros selected McCullers in the first round, with the 41st overall selection, of the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. He signed with the Astros, receiving a $2.5 million bonus. McCullers pitched for the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League in 2013, winning the Midwest League championship. For the 2014 season, McCullers was promoted to the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced California League. The JetHawks went on to become the 2014 California League champions after beating the Northern Division champion Visalia Rawhide. McCullers began the 2015 season with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League. The Astros promoted him to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League on May 14, and, on the following day, announced that he would make his major league debut on May 18. Houston Astros 2015–16 In his major league debut, McCullers allowed one run, three walks and three hits while striking out five batters in innings and took a no-decision in the Astros' 2–1 loss to the Oakland Athletics. McCullers threw his first career complete game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 3, 2015. He remained in the Astros rotation and finished with 22 starts. McCullers began the 2016 season on the disabled list with shoulder soreness. He finished the season 6–5 in 14 starts. 2017 The Astros assigned McCullers to the starting rotation at the outset of 2017 season. From May 6–23, he delivered 22 scoreless innings, which among Astros pitchers, was the longest scoreless inning streak since Roy Oswalt completed 32 from August 27 through September 11, 2008. In that same span, McCullers also became the first Astros pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1984 to allow no earned runs over at least five innings pitched in each of four consecutive appearances. For the month of May, McCullers won his first American League (AL) Pitcher of the Month Award. He was