a 13–5 record, a 3.16 ERA, and 185 strikeouts in innings over 28 starts. He led the major leagues with 76 walks and 4.21 walks per 9 innings. He established new career highs or career bests to that point in his career in numerous categories, including in ERA, games won, games started, strikeouts, innings pitched, batters faced (684), hits per nine innings allowed (H/9, 6.8), and home runs per nine innings (HR/9, 0.7). Among qualified pitchers, he led the AL in H/9 and HR/9, and ranked second in ERA. Following the regular season, the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) named McCullers the Astros' team Pitcher of the Year, his first such award. During the 2021 ALDS versus the Chicago White Sox, McCullers was removed from Game 4 due to a right forearm injury. He was unable to participate in the remainder of the playoffs, in the which the Astros reached the World Series, and were defeated by the Atlanta Braves in six games. 2022 Still recovering from the forearm injury, diagnosed a right flexor tendon strain, McCullers was unable to throw in spring training and missed the start of the 2022 season. On August 13, McCullers made his season debut and earned the win after hurling six shutout innings versus the Oakland Athletics. He allowed two hits, walked four, and struck out five. McCullers went innings on September 2, allowing two runs, six hits, four walks and striking out seven to earn the win in a 4–2 final versus Los Angeles. He hurled six innings on September 15, issuing four walks, two hits, and two runs as he struck out 11 Athletics, his most since July 29, 2018. On September 21, McCullers worked seven innings versus his hometown Tampa Bay Rays and was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs to lead the Astros in a 5–2 final score for the series sweep, their first-ever at Tropicana Field. In 2022, McCullers was 4–2 with a 2.27 ERA in innings in which he struck out 50 batters in eight starts. In the third game of the 2022 ALDS, McCullers hurled the first six innings of a major league postseason-record 18-inning shutout and series-clinching sweep of the Mariners. The game remained scoreless for an unprecedented 17 innings in postseason history—until rookie Jeremy Peña homered in the top of the 18th to eventually win it for the Astros, 1–0.