Houston Astros Reveal Plan For Key Starter's Rehab Assignment on Sunday

Lance McCullers will pitch for the Triple-A Sugarland Space Cowboys Sunday and manager Joe Espada will be in attendance. Here's the plan for the World Series champion righty.

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. warms up before the game against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park in 2024. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Longtime Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. will make his first rehab start of the season on Sunday with the Triple-A Sugarland Space Cowboys.

Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, here's the plan for the righty:

Lance McCullers Jr. will throw 30-35 pitches in two innings tomorrow in a rehab outing in Sugar Land. Astros manager Joe Espada said he would be there because the Astros have a rare Sunday off day.

Lance McCullers Jr. will throw 30-35 pitches in two innings tomorrow in a rehab outing in Sugar Land. Astros manager Joe Espada said he would be there because the Astros have a rare Sunday off day.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 29, 2025

Now 31 years old, McCullers could be a major boon to the Astros rotation, but given his health issues, nothing from him can be fully counted on. In addition to missing all of 2023 and 2024, he also missed most of 2022 and all of 2019.

Lifetime, McCullers is 49-32 with a 3.48 ERA. He's been an excellent pitcher for Houston in his career, helping them win the World Series in both 2017 and 2022, however injuries have been the real problem.

He did pitch in one spring training game this Grapefruit League season, tossing one scoreless inning. It's unclear how many rehab assignments he'll need before he can return.

The Astros won the American League West again in 2024 but were swept in the American League wild card series by the Detroit Tigers. Houston lost Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander this offseason, but they still figure to be very competitive in the division.

They are 2-1 on the season after taking the series from the New York Mets.

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