Astros one-time All-Star pitcher breaks silence on long-awaited return

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. hasn't played since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series.

However, according to manager Joe Espada on Wednesday, McCullers is scheduled to start this Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

"I'm really excited to have him on the mound on Sunday," Espada said, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN). "He's worked his tail off to get back to this point, and this whole entire team and this city should be excited to get Lance back."

He told the media that he feels his "stuff has been pretty crisp" is he's engineered this comeback, and he's naturally excited about the opportunity to get back out there.

"Been waiting for it for a long time," McCullers said. "Almost feel like I'm making my debut in some aspects, but it's been a really long road for me."

McCullers has been dealing with a flexor tendon injury since the 2021 playoffs. That caused him to miss the first four months of the 2022 season, and then he had surgery in June 2023 to repair the right flexor tendon as well as to remove a bone spur.

He missed all of 2023, and after a setback last June while trying to make a comeback, he was shut down by the Astros for all of 2024 as well.

From Tampa, Florida, McCullers was selected in the first round by the Astros in the 2012 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut in 2015 and was an All-Star in 2017 after posting a 7-4 record, 4.25 ERA and 1.298 WHIP in 118.2 innings pitched with 132 strikeouts compared to 40 walks.