This evening, Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr. will make his first start of the season, returning from a right flexor tendon strain. McCullers' last appearance in a game for the Astros was on October 12th of last season, starting Game 4 of the ALDS vs the White Sox in Chicago in which he sustained the injury. Prior to exiting the game, he threw four innings, allowing just 1 run in what was an eventual, series-clinching 10-1 Astros victory..
McCullers has been rehabbing through his injury much of this season, and recently he made four starts on his rehab assignment, one for Double A Corpus Christi and three for Triple A Sugar Land, where he had a combined 6.75 ERA, 13.1 IP, 7 BB, 17 SO. In his most recent start on August 7th for Sugar Land, he threw 86 pitches in five innings of work.
Last season for the Astros, McCullers was 13-5 in his 22 starts last season with a 3.16 ERA and 185 K’s in 162.1 IP. His .205 opponent batting average was the best in the AL (122 H in 162.1 IP).
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