Houston Astros Star Pitcher Sheds Light on Injury Recovery

There is some concern about the starting rotation for the Houston Astros heading into the 2024 season.

Justin Verlander is going to be 41 years old, Framber Valdez had a horrendous second half of the year, rookies Hunter Brown and J.P. France ran out of gas and Cristian Javier had his worst season as a member of the Astros.

This has prompted some speculation that they might try to be aggressive and find another ace-level starting pitcher this offseason, but their self-imposed salary cap limits their options.

One thing that would put many of these concerns to rest is the healthy return of their star pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who missed all of 2023 with a forearm injury that required surgery.

After expecting to be back for the start of the 2024 season, his timetable has already been pushed back to summer.

However, McCullers shared some insight about his recovery to Greg Bailey of ABC 13 in Houston.

"My recovery is going very well. I'm looking to play catch in the coming weeks, days... Rehab has gone really well," the star righty said.

That's definitely a positive.

The Astros need a healthy McCullers back in their rotation to compete for another World Series championship. After being selected in the first round of the 2012 Supplemental Draft, he has been one of Houston's most consistent pitchers when healthy.

He's only recorded over a 4.00 ERA mark one time in his six full seasons. He also has a career ERA of 3.47 across 19 playoff appearances and 12 starts.

McCullers is a major part of this rotation, not just in 2024, but moving forward.

That's one of the reasons why his recovery is being heavily monitored as he rehabs a forearm injury that has plagued him for the past two seasons.

"It was worse than we thought. The flexor tendon was off the bone instead of partially. It was a little more of an intense surgery," McCullers said when discussing his return timetable.

Good news is that he seems to be on track to hit the summer return date and should be a factor in Houston's rotation this season.