Injured Houston Astros pitcher ready for next major step in rehab

On Saturday, injured Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. will take a step back following surgery on the flexor tendon in his throwing arm.

This stage is what baseball people call an “up/down.” According to The Athletic, the 30-year-old right-hander will throw 25 warm-up pitches, sit for a period of time, then resume throwing. It’s called a high/low because it’s meant to simulate throwing two innings of baseball.

The length of time McCullers would sit would be the length of a typical Astros turn at the plate.

This decision is significant, even if it will not yet allow him to throw to hitters. The Astros expect McCullers to make another move up/down, likely next week. Next, there will be a discussion about pitches to batters.

So if McCullers wants to pitch to hitters, he must first pass this test.

The Tampa, Fla. native hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since 2022. During 2023 spring training, he was shut down after suffering a muscle strain in his right arm. This ultimately led to flexor tendon surgery, which ended his 2023 season. Surgeons also removed some bone spurs from the elbow.

The Astros are patient with McCullers, although his return would be welcome. The same goes for Luis Garcia, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and is a bit further along than McCullers, who had that surgery in 2018 and missed all of 2019.

Houston is without Cristian Javier and José Urquidy for the remainder of this season and part of the 2025 season after both undergoing Tommy John surgery. Justin Verlander is on the injured list for the second time, this time with neck stiffness. Another starter, JP France, is on the Triple-A injured list with a shoulder issue.

The Astros are thin in the rotation, so much so that they called up their 2023 draft pick, Jake Bloss, straight from Double-A Corpus Christi to start against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

Houston drafted McCullers in the first round in 2012 after he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year out of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.

He made his MLB debut in 2015 and quickly became a staple in the Astros’ rotation, helping them win the World Series in 2017 and 2022. In 2017, he was named to the All-Star team. American League and finished 7-4. with an ERA of 4.25.

The following season, he went 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA, then missed all of 2019 due to elbow surgery.

He had his best season in 2021, going 13-5 with a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts. He finished seventh in AL Cy Young voting.