On Tuesday, Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. hit a significant milestone in his recovery from a two-year absence as he returned to the mound for the first time in 868 days.
McCullers started Houston’s spring training game against the Nationals, and the seven-year MLB veteran got shortstop CJ Abrams to ground out to first baseman Zach Dezenzo to begin his outing.
McCullers then made up for hitting the next batter he faced, centerfielder Dylan Crews, by recording outs against the following two hitters.
After his brief outing, McCullers spoke with the Astros broadcast crew about his long recovery journey.
“Everything is looking up right now and I’m really, really dying to get back out there and pitch for the Astros,” McCullers shared.
“There was many times I thought maybe retirement was on the horizon,” he added.
McCullers, 31, has dealt with injuries throughout his Astros career, which began in 2015.
He’s missed three full seasons due to injuries, including 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and the past two seasons following a flexor tendon procedure.
“I was expecting a minor flexor repair, and what I had was a flexor replacement,” McCullers told MLB.com in February.
He went into graphic detail, adding that his “flexor was off the bone, so they had to drill more holes, do an internal brace, bring my flexor back to my bone.”
“When I woke up from surgery, the prognosis on time was 15-plus months,” McCullers finished.
He initially suffered a flexor tendon injury during the 2021 playoffs but didn’t have surgery until 2023. In his most recent MLB season in 2022, McCullers started eight games, going 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA, striking out 50 batters and walking 22 in 47.2 innings pitched.
While he won’t be available to pitch for the start of the regular season, McCullers’ return to the mound is excellent news for Houston.
The Astros are in a bit of a transition period. They watched their seven-season streak of ALCS appearances snap in 2024 while long-time third baseman Alex Bregman left in free agency for the Red Sox.
McCullers was named an All-Star in 2017 and finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2021, his last full season as a starter. He has a career 3.48 ERA with a 49-32 record, recording 800 strikeouts in 718.2 innings.
