The Astros have placed right-hander on the 15-day injured list due to a right foot sprain, retroactive to June 13th. Fellow righty has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. McCullers was scheduled to start todays game but will get the ball instead. was among those to relay the info. To this point, the Astros havent provided any information about how the injury occured or how long they expect McCullers to be out of action. In his most recent start, he to sed 96 pitches over five innings. Up until this announcement of his IL placement, he was listed as the starter for tonights game in West Sacramento. More information will presumably be forthcoming but its a notable development regardle s. For McCullers personally, hes looking to get back on track after a lengthy absence. He mi sed all of 2023 and 2024, and most of 2022, due to elbow i sues. He was reinstated from the IL about six weeks ago for his first major league action in over two years. He has since made seven starts with a 4.91 earned run average, though most of the damage came in his second start when he allowed seven earned runs to the Reds while only recording one out. Now hes set for another injury absence. On the bright side, it has nothing to do with his elbow, though its a setback nonethele s. Perhaps it will turn out to be a fine reset. Since he has thrown so little over the past few years, he wasnt going to suddenly throw 200 innings in 2025. Ideally, this will be just a minor i sue that will let him Tyler Heineman Jersey catch his breath before he picks things back up. But it will be a situation to monitor given his history and the clubs larger pitching situation. McCullers is now the seventh starter on Houstons injured list, with the others mostly facing lengthy absences. Both and required Tommy John surgery in the past month. has been struggling to get healthy since his own Tommy John surgery in 2023. had his TJS in June of last year and could perhaps be an option later in the year. is recovering from last years shoulder surgery with an uncertain timeline. has a fractured thumb and also has a murky path forward. Despite all of those injuries, the Astros have been performing well, with a 41-30 record that puts them 4.5 games up in the American League West. Without McCullers, the challenge of keeping the rotation in viable shape will grow. The Astros have and as two strong performers at the front of the rotation, though it now appears that three very inexperienced arms will be backing up that duo. , and Gusto have thrown a combined 120 2/3 innings in the majors between the three of them. Gusto was originally planned to start tomorrows game but will now bump up to today. The Astros have TBA listed as tomorrows starter, with Valdez still listed for Wednesday. Perhaps that means there will be some kind of bullpen game tomorrow with Alexander factoring in heavily. He has been starting at the Triple-A level and could cover multiple innings. Its already been that the Astros will be looking for starting pitching help prior to next months trade deadline. The McCullers injury, whether it proves to be serious or not, should only add to that desire. Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images Yariel Rodriguez Jersey