The Astros placed Lance McCullers Jr. back on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 20. The veteran righty is now dealing with a blister. Reliever Nick Hernandez is up from Triple-A Sugar Land to take the vacated active roster spot.
This is the third IL stint of the season for McCullers. He began the season on the shelf after multiple years of battling elbow and forearm issues. He was knocked back out in June for a couple weeks with a sprained right foot. A blister shouldn’t be a major concern, but it’ll cost him at least another couple weeks.
It’s the latest speed bump in a brutal first season back for McCullers. He has an earned run average approaching 7.00 across 11 starts. He has a league average 23.1% strikeout percentage while walking a career-worst 13% of batters faced. While McCullers had huge ground-ball numbers before the series of injuries, that’s down to a middling 42.3% clip. The 91.5 MPH average velocity on his sinker is well down from the 93-94 MPH range at which he sat in 2022. Each of Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrighetti and Luis Garcia are on minor league rehab assignments. It’s tough to envision McCullers holding his rotation spot much longer even if he returns from the blister after a minimal stint.
Manager Joe Espada also provided a concerning update on third baseman Isaac Paredes, who went on the 10-day IL over the weekend with a right hamstring strain. Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle) that it’s a “pretty significant” strain that will sideline Paredes for an extended stretch. Mauricio Dubón is getting most of the third base playing time, keeping Brice Matthews, Zack Short and Taylor Trammell in the everyday lineup.