Astros Oft-Injured Star Set To Make His Return on Friday

The Houston Astros have struggled with pitching health, but will get a starter back heading into the weekend.

Jul 19, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. (43) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros have dealt with injuries on both sides of the ball in 2025, but the pitching has had it worse. They've spent the majority of the season without stars like Cristian Javier, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski. Spencer Arrighetti recently returned from the injured list, but the Astros lost Josh Hader and Brandon Walter soon after.

On Monday, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reported a flurry of injury updates for the Astros, which included updates on rehab starts for J.P. France, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. Each pitcher had thrown at least four innings at Triple-A over the last week.

It appears all three are poised to return soon, but general manager Dana Brown said it's likely that Lance McCullers Jr. would be the first of the three to return to the majors.

Lance McCullers Jr. Set To Start Second of Four-Game Road Series

Lance McCullers, Jr will start Friday against Baltimore.

— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) August 19, 2025

McCullers is now set to return on Friday, Aug. 22 following a lengthy absence. On July 22, Houston placed the right-hander on the injured list with a blister on his finger, retroactive to July 20. It was his second stint on the IL after a foot sprain in June.

The 31-year-old has had horrible injury luck over the past few seasons. Before his May 4 start against the Chicago White Sox, he hadn't pitched in a Major League game since 2022. That start came in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-hander threw 4.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs, including five home runs on his way to a Game 3 loss.

Since his return to the mound this year, McCullers has not been himself and has struggled in his 11 starts. Through 44.1 innings, the former All-Star has a 6.90 ERA with 50 strikeouts, 29 walks and a minus-0.8 bWAR. The walks are concerning, as he is almost at a six walks per nine clip. His FIP, which sits at 5.87, shows that he has gotten slightly unlucky, but he's still been 40% worse than league average with a 60 ERA+.

According to Baseball Savant, McCullers has a 20.3% chase rate, which puts him in the first percentile. His hard hit rate is also 50%, which is only slightly better in the second percentile.

The numbers don't look good for McCullers, and he may never get back to the electric pitcher he was when he broke onto the scene. That being said, he hasn't had much time being healthy over the past three seasons, and it's hard to get into a rhythm that way.

In his one rehab start with Triple-A, he allowed just one run on four hits and struck out five in five innings, which is a good sign about what he could potentially do when he makes his return on Friday against the Baltimore Orioles.

If McCullers can find his groove down the stretch, he may be able to give the Astros some valuable innings in October.