Minor League Baseball

Houston Astros' World Series Champion to Make Long-Awaited Rehab Start This Weekend

Lance McCullers, who hasn't pitched since the 2022 season, will start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday.
Brady Farkas|
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) talks to reporters after a spring training workout at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 14.
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) talks to reporters after a spring training workout at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 14. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Houston Astros

After a long road, Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers is finally working his way back.

The righty, who hasn't pitched in a game since 2022, will get a rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A Sugar Land, per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

He did pitch in one spring training game this season, tossing one scoreless inning.

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 a real problem.

In addition to missing 2023 and 2024, he also missed most of 2022 and all of 2019.

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. Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are starting rotation candidates. Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier are working back from arm injuries of their own.

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.

Houston opens up the season on Thursday against the New York Mets, who will debut Juan Soto in their center of their lineup. The Mets are coming off a year in which they got to the National League Championship Series.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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