Houston Astros: Lance McCullers return makes team whole again

The Houston Astros got back yet another all-star to their roster when Lance McCullers Jr. returned to the starting rotation last night.

The Houston Astros third ace threw 3.2 innings of perfect baseball before walking Robinson Cano and didn’t give up a hit until the bottom of the fifth on a solo home run from Kyle Seager. He began to tire in the sixth inning giving up three hits and two runs in the process, but that’s not surprising considering he’s still building up endurance coming off his stint on the disabled list.

With the return of Lance McCullers Jr., the team is now as close to fully healthy as they’ve been all year, considering the team started the year sans their opening roster number three starting pitcher Colin McHugh.

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But with their rotation in such good health that the opening day roster number five starting pitcher Mike Fiers has been moved to the bullpen, the team has now become whole.

While back-up catcher slash designated hitter spot starter Evan Gattis is still on the mend and fourth outfielder Jake Marisnick is day-to-day with a groin injury, this team that seemed to be cursed as if A.J. Hinch made a bad wish on a monkey paw with all the injuries we’ve incurred is now complete and ready to roll into October (knock on wood.)

Here’s what McCullers Jr. had to say about his return to the rotation according to astros.com:

"“I was hoping I was going to be able to stay out there. I only had 75, 76 pitches. It was a close game and we’re trying to get as many wins as we can right now. As the year goes on, you’re always looking, ‘We’re this many games up.’ When you get to this part of the season, you’re like, ‘We have this many games until we clinch.’ My first game back, I tried to be conservative with my pitch count, but I fully expect the next outing going forward, when those kinds of situations come up again, that they’re going to try to let me work out of it."

The best part about McCullers Jr. return was that he averaged 94.9 mph on his fastball and threw just as many curveballs as he did fastballs (37 of each pitch) during the outing, showing no diminished velocity and a confidence to throw the curve with effectiveness.

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As the regular season draws to a close, the team is almost fully healthy and has weathered the worst of storms (in more than one way) this year and maintained their American League best record despite all of the hurdles in their way. Hopefully the best is yet to come in October.

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