Astros Get Encouraging News on Latest Lance McCullers Injury Update

The Houston Astros lead the AL West by 13 games as the 2022 MLB All-Star Break approaches. What's even more impressive is that the Astros have gotten off to a 55-28 start without starting pitching Lance McCullers, who's been recovering from a forearm injury dating back to last year's playoffs.

McCullers' recovery has been ramping up in recent weeks, leading to encouraging news for the Astros on Friday. The 28-year-old felt good enough to face live batters for the first time, bringing him one step closer to his eventual Major-League return.

Lance McCullers Injury Update

The Astros hope that McCullers can make it through a few more live batting sessions in the coming weeks until he's ready for a minor-league rehab assignment. If all goes well, it looks like he could be back in Houston's lineup sometime during August, if not early September at the latest.

The Astros have been fortunate that their starting pitchers have combined for a 3.00 ERA this season — third-best in the MLB. Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez have been dealing like Cy Young candidates on the mound and adding McCullers to the list would make the group even more dangerous.

Fans are hoping that McCullers can return to his 2021 form when he finished seventh in AL Cy Young voting. He made 28 starts for the Astros last season, going 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA, striking out 185 batters over 162.1 frames while leading in AL in hits (6.8) and home runs (0.7) per nine innings.

McCullers eventual return should help further cement Houston as a championship contender. As it stands, the Astros currently own the third-best 2022 World Series odds (+550) on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.