Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Athletic) this morning that it’s “pretty safe to say” that right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will not pitch in the majors this year. McCullers last pitched in the majors during Game 3 of the 2022 World Sereis and has been sidelined the past two seasons due to a muscle strain in his right arm and a subsequent surgery to repair his right flexor tendon last summer.
Rehab from that surgery was expected to leave him out of action for the first half of the 2024 season, though that timeline was further delayed when the club paused his throwing program last month due to lingering arm soreness following his bullpen sessions. Club brass subsequently indicated the right-hander may be able to contribute out of the bullpen for the September stretch run this year despite the setback, though even at the time it was noted that McCullers was seeking a second opinion regarding the setback.
The right-hander seemingly has not resumed a throwing program since being shut down early last month, and with so much time off would surely need to restart his throwing program from scratch in order to get ready for MLB games. That seems like a tall order with less than two months remaining in the regular season, and it’s ultimately not yet clear if McCullers is being shut down due to a significant setback or if he has simply run out of time to work his way back to a return in the majors this year. Regardless of the specifics behind McCullers’s situation, the right-hander will now look toward a return in 2025 on the heels of back-to-back lost seasons.
It’s an especially frustrating situation given the 30-year-old’s considerable talent when healthy enough to take the mound. The right-hander owns a career 3.48 ERA in 718 2/3 innings of work since he first made his big league debut back in 2015, and his peripheral numbers look even better. His career 3.35 FIP is nothing short of excellent, and he’s struck out at least 24.7% of batters faced in every season of his career including a 26.9% rate since the start of the 2016 season. He’s also a decorated postseason hurler for the club, with a 3.47 postseason ERA in 72 2/3 innings of work across 12 playoff series. That talent earned McCullers a five-year, $85MM extension prior to the start of the 2021 season, but more than half of that extension has now come and gone with the right-hander having thrown just 47 2/3 innings total in the regular season since it began in 2022.
McCullers is far from the only Astros hurler done for the year, as he’ll now join Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier in looking toward the 2025 for their returns to the mound after both Urquidy and Javier underwent Tommy John surgery back in June. Justin Verlander and Luis Garcia are also on the injured list, but both of them are expected to pitch in the majors again this year. Verlander, in fact, felt good following a 37 pitch bullpen session earlier today and (according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) told reporters that he expects to return to the majors after just two rehab starts amid a neck strain that’s kept him out of the rotation since mid-June.
Food for thought…
If you knew your career would be stopped short due to injury but you would win a WS, would you do it?
Conversely if you knew you would have a lengthy, hall of fame career but never win a WS, would you do it?
I’d never put my long term health on the line for an employer. It’s not noble for a player to mess up their body for a business that would toss them aside without a second thought.
I’d take the long career of being a baller.
I’d get more money if I pick option b. So I pick option b.
I see, taking the Paul George route and ditching the Jalen Brunson route
I for one really like money
I’ve never heard of either of those two guys. Or is that the point?
Both are NBA players Paul George left his team in LA to go to Philly to make the most $$ possible.
Brunson plays for the Knicks and took a $100 million dollars less then he was able to sign for so the team could get more players under the salary cap.
Me, too. I just don’t have any.
But none of those guys have a ring
Option B ..not close that WS is fleeting for the players who start from scratch the next season and still need to think about that next payday
Money>HOF>WS
Ian Anderson won a World Series in 2021 with Atlanta and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2022, like McCullars. It’s unlikely Anderson ever makes it back. He earned a cool million dollars in his career.
Mike Mussina never won a World Series, is in the hall of fame, and made $144 million in his career.
In this scenario, everyone will take Mussina’s career.
For just a piece of metal? Of course not.
There’s more to life than baseball.
Steven Strausburg’s holding in line 1
Strasberg is not a good example…He got both. A ring and the long contract
McCullers, Urquidy, Javier, Garcia, Verlander; that is a starting rotation. Not surprised about McCullers.
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Time to hang them up like Verlander and Scherzer. Stop delaying the inevitable.
He’s got 2y and 35m coming. Days of Larry Hisle and Wayne garland retiring with years left and money owed are long gone. it’s pay me every last 1c now.
@johnsilver there was a pitcher for the Royals who did this a few years ago and I can’t remember his name…
was it gil meche maybe? he was a personable sort as remember.
edit: looked up and he did retire early from shoulder surgery, but his BR page doesn’t show future pay. he might have left cash on the table. Cheers for this
Gil Meche.
Yeah almost certain it was Gil Meche. Said he didn’t feel right taking the money because he couldn’t perform up to the contract or something. Kudos to him
Yeah 1 year left on his deal for about 10 mil or so and he walked away cause he couldn’t be a starter anyone and didn’t want to pitch out of the bullpen his final year. If l recall.
“A few years ago” was 14 years ago
Pretty sure Wayne Garland collected his contract.
$17M/year wasted on Lance. $19M/year on Abreu. 11.5M/year on Montero. $47.5M in dead money. Would have been better off donating it to their favorite charity and getting the tax breaks.
Trout is 37.5. It happens. Just remember that the best years they received from Lance were for pennies in comparison.
Fortunately that dead money will be off the books in 1.5 seasons.
Their favorite charity is probably Enron so
McCullers is a bum. He never wants to play but still takes the Astros checks. Should be banned for life from the MLB with Stratsburg and Rendon
What a ridiculous statement.
Bobby Bonilla has entered the chat.
That wasn’t Bobby Bonilla’s fault. That was the fault of the Mets for negotiating that ridiculous contract.
Really?!?!?
Shocking, just shocking
I hired someone to place a curse on every member of the 2017 Astros and I kind of think I got my money’s worth.
Seven straight seasons in ALCS and counting.. It didn’t work.
May need to fix that headline to read “Lance McCullers Jr. No longer expected to pitch.”
“2022 World Sereis”
Ummm…
Too much pain from all that trash can banging?
McCullers needs to be DFA. But with a year left I think. They will use him somewhere if can. No one else will after this time off. He did pitch in 2022 but not well.In terms of well and more 2017
He is owed $35million in 25 and 26
So DFA is unreasonable
Exactly. Cutting him saves $0.00 in money. Does not save a roster spot during the reason. Yes, he will take up a 40-man spot during the off-season but that is it. Generally, the last spot on the 40=man during off-season is not a deal breaker. So you just hold and hope he gets healthy for 1 or the next two seasons. With the dirth of starting pitching in the league, if he is even slightly servicable, you will be able to get a nice return on that 40th off-season roster spot if he is even a fraction of what he was before the injury.
Man I hope that McCullers contract was insured. It’s been a fricking horrid buy for Crane.
A regular Rich Harden
nah Rich Hardin never got caught cheating.
Another example of pitching issues and salary. You somehow have to pay for performance without overpaying. Great and then Broken down. With my Brewers, Civelli is not hurt but stinks. Overpaid for what He used to do. The next guy up. Montas getting 16 million for average. Glad they can buy him out for a few Million.
Good work for nearly $18MM a year.
Another long term contract explosion
And the fans keep demanding the teams shell out lots of money for NOTHING IN RETURN
His dad played for about the same number of seasons.
Since signing a five-year, $85-million contract extension in 2021, McCullers has pitched in 41 games, including the playoffs, throwing 236 innings. He will not pitch in 24, didn’t pitch in 23 and only pitched in 8 regular season games (3 post season) in 22. Lance is loved in Houston and when healthy is a top of the rotation pitcher but this is a very bad contract. After this season he is still owed $35.4 million.
Contract aside, Lance is one of the biggest “spin rate” nerds in the league. Which leads one to wonder how much arm damage are these players inflicting on themselves to achieve these high spin rates..
It was his 2nd major surgery on that elbow. The odds were not in his favor of returning.
Nope. The first was Tommy John. The second was to clean up a forearm strain.
Do owner’s have any protection if a player feigns an injury after signing long term contracts only to have miraculous recoveries just before they expire?
You are right about this surgery not being the elbow. This one was flexor tendon surgery. The tendon that connects the hand to the forearm and would make it nearly impossible to bend at joints in his fingers. Typically the recovery time is 12-14 weeks with occasional surgery after that to remove scar tissue. If its longer than that, the most common reason is a ruptured tendon which can end a baseball career. If he is able to return it will have been more than 2 years since the surgery. Here is hoping its just continued pain and he can eventually return, because he used to be fun to watch pitch.
A lot of money spent in the wrong places and a farm system depleted is not promising for Houston. This is their last hurrah as it looks bleak for the future. Crane most likely reverts back to his old ways and pulls back on spending until this team can be competitive. Two games over 500.
Seattle sees there is a window open to win the division for maybe four seasons. Yankees even helped by dumping their worst player off to Houston and getting international pool money and a prospect. See Crane already pulling back on spending future money. Lol
That move to pick up the Yankees batting practice pitcher was Dana Brown. Overpaying for Kikuchi is also on Dana Brown.
I think and hope he gets a doc that will advise him to retire. After the 24’ season. That will prevent him from more damage and release the Astros from 35 million in 25’.
What is McCullers’ incentive for retiring? Unless the team has insurance on him, why would he want to release the Astros from paying him $35 million?
I have a couple of questions.
1. If the medical community states that McCullers, Jr can never pitch again (yeah, certainties in the medical field are rare), does that release Houston from paying him? Depends on the contract? My initial thoughts are “no”, or just a reduction in pay if he can never pitch.
2. Can Houston get around this by having McCullers, Jr retire, and then hire him on as a pitching coach, scout, or barista at a big salary? Or would the MLB come down on them for that?
If he comes back it should only be as a closer
Well, he still gets his $18 million a year
Another long term contract explosion
The players are always COMPLAINING they are underpaid
Yet they never discuss getting millions for doing nothing