A difficult season got even harder for the Houston Astros as the team lost another starting pitcher to the injured list on Tuesday.
Lance McCullers Jr. was scheduled to start Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Twins, but was scratched in the morning with no explanation from the team. Jason Alexander will take his spot in the rotation tonight, as the Astros look to snap a two-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 14-3.
Later in the day, the Astros announced that McCullers is suffering from right shoulder inflammation and was immediately placed on the 15-Day IL. Manager Joe Espada spoke before Tuesday's game, and as per The Athletic's Chandler Rome, Espada revealed that McCullers has been dealing with the discomfort for "a while." McCullers left the team in Minnesota and is heading back to Houston for further testing.
This now makes four of the Astros' five Opening Day starters that have spent time on the IL this year. McCullers' injury also comes on the heels of the Astros losing star infielders Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve. Correa will miss the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery, while Altuve left Saturday's game with a Grade 2 left oblique strain, which usually takes 4-6 weeks for recovery. These two injuries were somewhat offset by the return of shortstop Jeremy Pena earlier this week.
McCullers has struggled this season, and a shoulder injury to his throwing arm could be one of the reasons. In eight games, the veteran has posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 6.86 ERA and 1.525 WHIP. Earlier in his career, McCullers was known as a strikeout artist. In 2026, he's managed just 43 punch-outs, while allowing 22 walks and seven home runs in just 39.1 innings of work.
This is just the latest injury for McCullers, who was limited to just 16 appearances in 2025 after missing all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. McCullers also missed the entire 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing right-handed pitcher was drafted by the Astros in the first round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft, and has spent all nine seasons of his career with the team.
