Houston Astros World Series Winning Pitcher Gets Solid Health Update Heading into 2025

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers is back throwing off a mound, a welcome piece of news considering he missed the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons with elbow and forearm issues.

Per MLB.com:

McCullers, who hasn’t pitched since the 2022 World Series, is throwing off the mound with hopes of returning early this season. He had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur, but he suffered a setback in July 2024 and was shut down for the season.

Lifetime, McCullers is 49-32 with a 3.48 ERA. He's been an excellent pitcher for Houston in his career, helping them win the World Series in both 2017 and 2022, however injuries have been a real problem.

In addition to missing 2023 and 2024, he also missed most of 2022 and all of 2019.

Now 31 years old, McCullers could be a major boon to the Astros rotation, but given his health issues, nothing from him can be fully counted on. Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are starting rotation candidates at the beginning of the year. Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier are working back from arm injuries of their own.

The Astros won the American League West again in 2024 but were swept in the American League wild card series by the Detroit Tigers. This offseason appears to be a transition for Houston, as they traded Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs and are set to lose Alex Bregman in free agency. They also acquired third baseman Issac Paredes from the Cubs.