McCullers: Bauer's insinuations only makes Astros' rotation 'hungrier'

When Cleveland Indians starter Trevor Bauer tweeted that the Houston Astros pitching staff may be influencing spin rate on their pitches with the help of foreign substances, it caused some pushback from Astros pitchers and their manager.

And it hasn't gone away in the days since. In fact, it seems to have lit a fire.

"You got some guy out there popping off, trying to (expletive) discredit people," Lance McCullers Jr. told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports, "Of course it’s going to make us angry. It gets guys frustrated.

"You know what that really does? It just makes us hungrier."

Even if the Astros' offense hasn't quite gotten going, the pitching staff has been more than ready to pick up the slack through the first month of the season. As a whole, Astros pitchers have a 2.68 ERA and are striking out 10.61 batters per nine innings - both are tops in MLB.

Right-hander Charlie Morton has seen the best success of his career since joining Houston prior to last season. He's 18-7 with a 3.30 ERA and 211 strikeouts over 188 1/3 innings. He took issue with Bauer's approach, saying it's dangerous to throw around accusations without evidence.

"When people start making this a big deal, and start talking about individuals, especially when they don’t have proof, that’s when I get uncomfortable about that narrative. It’s either an open secret that a majority of the league is (using pine tar), or it’s not, and you’re vilifying individuals," Morton said.

"I don’t know Trevor, so I can’t tell you what his motivation is. But there was also an element of him questioning the integrity of individuals using pine tar, and the word being morality."

The squads don't have to wait long before squaring off face to face instead of bantering in the media. Bauer and his teammates will head to Houston on Friday, May 18 for a three-game set at Minute Maid Park. The Astros will then head to Cleveland the following Thursday to open a four-game series.