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Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. can't catch a break. The right-hander was placed on the injured list on Friday due to right hand soreness. This is the fourth time McCullers has landed on the IL this season, and it may end his 2025 campaign. The earliest McCullers could return to the active roster is September 27; one day before the final game of the regular season.
Though a return in 2025 is possible, given McCullers' track record, it seems unlikely. Given the litany of injury setbacks McCullers has faced this season — and throughout his career — coupled with his ineffectiveness, the Astros may be forced to move on from the 31-year-old this coming offseason.
Doing so, however, will come with quite the cost. McCullers inked a five-year, $85 million extension prior to his stellar 2021 season. That year, the former first-round pick started 28 for the Astros, going 13-5 and posted a respectable 3.16 ERA over 162⅓ innings.
The Astros need to move on from Lance McCullers Jr. following his latest injury
Injuries, however, crippled McCullers career beginning in 2022, and he's never returned to the type of pitcher he was during his breakout campaign in 2021. A flexor tendon strain kept him on the sidelines for most of 2022, then another arm injury during Houston's 2023 spring training in Florida kept him off the Astros Opening Day roster. He underwent surgery midway through that season, and injury setbacks derailed McCullers comeback attempts in 2024.
After missing over 900 days, McCullers finally returned to the mound in May of this season. But a foot sprain in June, a blister in July, and now a hand injury in September have effectively sabotaged his attempt to reestablish himself as a starting pitcher. The Astros made the decision earlier this year to move McCullers to the bullpen, and now it looks as if he'll miss the remainder of the 2025 regular season.
McCullers is owed about $18 million in 2026, and while that's a tough pill to swallow, it's time for the Astros to move on. They did it with Rafael Montero. They did it with Jose Abreu. Now it's time to do the same with McCullers.