HOUSTON -- In perhaps his final rehab outing before rejoining the Astros, right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. allowed one run, four hits and two walks while striking out five batters in five innings Friday night for Triple-A Sugar Land against Salt Lake. He threw 80 pitches.
McCullers, who has been on the injured list since July 20 with a right finger blister, averaged 91.5 mph with his sinker and 91.9 mph on his four-seam fastball, topping out at 92.5 mph on the four-seamer. He generated six whiffs on 34 swings.
“If McCullers gets through tonight and throws the ball well, we’ll have a decision to make -- do we bring him back for his next start, or does he need another rehab start?” Astros general manager Dana Brown said before Houston’s 7-0 loss to Baltimore on Friday. “We definitely have some decisions to make, but right now we want to get through tonight.”
McCullers began the season on the IL before returning to the mound in early May, which marked his first game action since the 2022 World Series. He made 11 starts and posted a 6.90 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP, including nine earned runs in 5 2/3 innings across his previous two starts. He was on the 15-day IL in June with a right foot strain.
He was the third consecutive Astros player to make a rehab start at Triple-A. JP France, who’s been out since 2024 following right shoulder surgery, went four innings on Thursday, allowing three runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. He touched 93.1 mph with his fastball and got 13 whiffs on 36 swings.
Luis Garcia, who’s been out since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023, made his seventh Minor League rehab appearance (sixth start) Wednesday night -- and third for Sugar Land -- giving up one run, six hits and one walk while striking out six batters in 4 2/3 innings against Sacramento. He reached 94.7 mph after touching only 92.5 mph in a rehab start six days earlier.
The Astros earlier this month got starting pitchers Spencer Arrighetti and Cristian Javier back from long-term injuries, so Houston could soon have a glut of starters as it’s grappling with the loss of All-Star closer Josh Hader for at least three more weeks.
“We’re going to have a discussion about Garcia and France as to what their next options are,” Brown said “We do have some decisions to make with all those arms, but it feels good we do have some arms coming back when you're going through something like this. We do have a lot of decisions to make and we’re not going to be able to make them in the next 48 hours.”