HOUSTON — Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., who made a triumphant return to the mound this year after missing more than two seasons following major arm surgery, is being moved to the bullpen for the “short term,” manager Joe Espada said prior to Thursday’s game against the Rockies at Daikin Park.
McCullers has made 12 starts for the Astros since returning May 4, posting a 6.89 ERA and 1.80 WHIP in 48 1/3 innings. More recently, he spent more than a month on the injured list with a blister on his pitching hand before returning on Friday in Baltimore and giving up three runs on five hits and five walks in four innings. It was his most walks in a game since July 22, 2018.
Espada said the move is being made to try to help McCullers regain his form and confidence while pitching in relief, which he’s done only a few times in his career.
“I think he’s capable of doing anything,” Espada said. “I think Lance is a really good pitcher. We’re trying to find opportunities to get him going and maybe pitching out of the bullpen for an outing or two can get him going. I think the adjustment is not going to be easy to make; he’s never pitched out of the bullpen, but we believe he can do it.”
The Astros are using a six-man rotation during this stretch of 13 consecutive games without a scheduled off-day, and Espada didn’t rule out McCullers returning to the rotation to start Monday’s game against the Angels.
“That one spot potentially we could use him, just depending on where the next couple of games will take us,” he said.
McCullers’ velocity has lagged this season, though his sinker hit 94.5 mph in the first inning Friday in Baltimore. McCullers said he felt he could work deeper into games if he could command his sinker better and felt he was a “normal sinker away from … being in a really great spot.”
Espada said McCullers handled the change of roles like a professional, but said he will have to change some of his routines to be prepared to pitch in relief.
“We have talked him through some of the processes that he might need to consider, doing some stuff in the weight room, coming out here and doing some stuff just to get ready for that outing,” Espada said. “Plus, giving him enough time to get ready to come into games. Those are conversations we’ve had with him and we’ll see if we can get him going that way.”
McCullers, who underwent surgery in June 2023 to repair a flexor tendon and suffered a setback last season, was rocked for seven runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter in one-third of an inning in his second start of the season May 10 and then struck out 12 batters in six innings May 28 against the A’s. He threw six scoreless innings June 3 in Pittsburgh and allowed one run in six innings July 4 at the Dodgers before struggling in his last three starts (11.17 ERA in 9 2/3 innings). He was also on the 15-day IL in June with a right foot strain.
McCullers missed the 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and injured his flexor tendon in Game 4 of the ‘21 AL Division Series against the White Sox in Chicago and spent most of the next season rehabbing. He returned to the mound at the end of ‘22 and helped the Astros win their second World Series.
