HOUSTON — Lance McCullers Jr.’s two-year journey back to a major-league mound is nearing its completion.
The 31-year-old is scheduled to start for the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox, ending McCullers’ 915-day absence from the team’s rotation.
McCullers missed the entire 2023 season after undergoing surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right elbow. A slew of setbacks in his recovery also sidelined McCullers for the entire 2024 season.
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“I am really looking forward to having him on the mound,” Astros manager Joe Espada said Wednesday. “He’s worked his tail off to get back to this point. This whole entire team and the city should be excited about getting Lance back.”
McCullers has thrown 210 innings since signing a five-year, $85 million contract extension prior to the 2021 season. He boasts a 2.96 ERA and a 142 ERA+ across that span, demonstrating how effective he can be when healthy.
A homegrown fixture of Houston’s golden era, McCullers is one of two remaining players from the Astros’ 2017 World Series-winning team. McCullers helped propel Houston to the American League pennant, punching out six Yankees across four innings to finish Game 7 of the 2017 American League Championship Series.
“I’ve been on the opposite side when he beat us,” said Espada, who was the Yankees’ third-base coach that season. “I’ve seen him pitch big games while I wore this uniform and, now, getting him back to pitch meaningful games and meaningful innings for this organization, I think we should celebrate that.”
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
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