Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including ) this morning that its pretty safe to say that right-hander 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 Jahlil Tripp Jersey 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 program last month due to lingering arm sorene s following his bullpen se sions. Club bra s 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 le s than two months remaining in the regular season, and its 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. Regardle s of the specifics behind McCullerss situation, the right-hander will now look toward a return in 2025 on the heels of back-to-back lost seasons. Its an especially frustrating situation given the 30-year-olds 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 hes 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. Hes also a decorated postseason hurler for the club, with a 3.47 postseason ERA in 72 2/3 innings of work acro s 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 hell now join and in looking toward the 2025 for their returns to the mound after both Urquidy and Javier underwent Tommy John surgery back in June. and 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 se sion earlier today and (according to ) told reporters that he expects to return to the majors after just two rehab starts amid a neck strain thats kept him out of the rotation since mid-June. C.J. Miles Jersey
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