Lance McCullers, the Astros’ top starting pitcher during the regular season with 13 wins and a team-high 185 strikeouts, will likely be a spectator when the ALCS begins this weekend. The 28-year-old hurler bowed out of Tuesday’s start with what the team described as “forearm discomfort” and was later sent for an MRI. While McCullers’ tests reportedly came back clean, the right-hander remains a longshot to face the Red Sox this series.
Should the Astros advance to their third Fall Classic in five years, Bob Nightengale of USA Today speculates McCullers could be available for the World Series. The trick will be getting there, though Houston holds homefield advantage and has fared well against Boston, winning five of their seven regular-season matchups.
A proven postseason performer including in 2017, when he pitched the Astros to the World Series with 24 straight curveballs in their Game 7 win over the Yankees, McCullers would be a big loss for a Houston starting rotation already shorthanded from the loss of Justin Verlander (Tommy John surgery). Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia are lined up to pitch Games 1 and 2 this weekend, though Houston’s plan for the remaining games is anyone’s guess. Former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, who worked out of the bullpen in the Division Series against Chicago, could be called on to start while long reliever Jose Urquidy will also be a consideration.
McCullers has been a dominant force when healthy (3.57 ERA across 671 major-league innings), though unfortunately that’s been a rare occurrence throughout his career, missing all of 2019 following Tommy John surgery and never making more than 28 starts in a season. This series, which gets underway Friday night at Minute Maid Park, will be a rematch of the 2018 ALCS. Boston got the better of Houston on that occasion, claiming the series four games to one.
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