Lance McCullers Jr. was back on a Major League mound on Tuesday, albeit in a Spring Training game, as his Houston Astros fell 4-3 to the Washington Nationals. McCullers threw only one inning, retiring the side in the top of the first inning before Spencer Arrighetti took over.
McCullers did not give up a hit; the only Washington runner to reach base was Dylan Crews, who got on via a hit by pitch.
It was McCullers’ first time pitching for the big league club since the 2022 World Series — 868 days ago, to be exact. To mark the occasion, McCullers said a number of former teammates reached out, with The Athletic’s Chandler Rome reporting that Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Dallas Keuchel and Martín Maldonado were among them.
McCullers developed a muscle strain in his right arm during spring training 2023, which ended in flexor surgery that sidelined him for the entire season. As he was working his way back in 2024, he was shut down again when he experienced another setback.
Now, with just one inning logged this spring and Opening Day less than two weeks away, McCullers won’t be ready for the start of the season. The Astros are sure to ramp him up carefully, but when they do, they hope to get back the guy who was a 2017 All-Star and who finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2021.
Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. ramping up slowly as he recovers from injury
McCullers told the game’s TV broadcast, according to Rome, that he would pitch again on either Sunday or Monday. If it’s Monday, it will not be in game action, but on the back fields at the Astros’ spring training facility while the team is in Houston getting ready for Opening Day.
Regardless, McCullers will want to get an up-down, either pitching multiple innings in an exhibition game or simulating it at the Astros’ facility.
It’s the next step in a ramp-up that McCullers is approaching with care.
“Yeah, it’s exciting, but one day at a time,” McCullers said last week after throwing a live batting practice session, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “Overall, I’m still working on some stuff delivery- and four-seam related, but it’s a never-ending tinker.”
He added that the hitters he faced were impressed by his offspeed stuff.
“The velo was pretty solid and it held the whole time, which was nice to see,’ he said. “Offspeed was really sharp. Hitters had good things to say about the way the offspeed was coming out of the hand. I think, at this point, it’s really about kind of continuing to sharpen up a little bit and [then] jump into the deep ends of the game.”
The post Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman texted Lance McCullers Jr. before long-awaited injury return appeared first on ClutchPoints.
