Inside the Astros

Watch: Houston Astros All-Star Returns To Mound After Two-Year Absence

The Houston Astros finally saw the return of an ace after last seeing him in the 2022 World Series, his spring training debut went well.
Dylan Sanders|
Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day.
Feb 20, 2025; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) poses for a photo at the Houston Astros media day. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

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Houston Astros

The Houston Astros have been without one of their starting pitchers for almost 900 days and that player just made his return in spring training.

Lance McCullers Jr. left 2022 after one of the worst World Series performances of all time, in which he gave up five home runs to the Philadelphia Phillies in 4.1 innings of work.

The Astros, of course, went on to win that series so it didn't end up being too big of a deal. But that actually ended up as his last outing for a long time.

McCullers missed all of 2023 and 2024 due to a surgery on his throwing arm that had to both repair a tendon and remove a bone spur.

While the 31-year-old won't be ready for the Opening Day roster, he has finally made his return to the mound during spring training.

McCullers got the start on Tuesday afternoon against the Washington Nationals. It was a hitless and scoreless inning against the top of the Nationals lineup, but he did hit Dylan Crews with a pitch.

It was a 13-pitch outing that went about as smoothly as it could, given the circumstances. Being able to get him off the mound unscathed is enough of a win itself.

He was able to get to 93 on his fastball, which is a positive. That was his average back when he was healthy, so that is a positive sign.

McCullers was once a very promising up-and-comer. He has a career 3.48 ERA and 10.0.

Missing so much time has killed some of the excitement around him, but a return to form could push this starting rotation to the next level.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders