The Houston Astros announced Wednesday that right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the rest of the season following surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right forearm and remove a bone spur.
To make matters worse for the defending World Series champion Astros, general manager Dana Brown said slugger Yordan Alvarez will be sidelined for at least four more weeks due to a right oblique strain.
McCullers missed a large portion of last season with a forearm strain and went 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA in eight starts after making his 2022 debut in August.
He originally sustained an injury to the tendon in his right forearm in Game 4 of the 2021 American League Division Series against the White Sox, and then aggravated it this February.
“After the injury happened in February, Lance worked his tail off to get back on the mound,” Brown said. “This guy is a warrior and did everything in his power to get back.
“But each time he built himself up to an increased pitch total off the mound, the pain would come back. It’s unfortunate, but we look forward to him being back on the mound next season.”
Alvarez, meanwhile, will likely be out until after the All-Star break after straining his right oblique during an at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday.
The 2019 AL Rookie of the year was leading the major leagues with 55 RBIs while batting .277 with 17 home runs in 57 games before getting hurt.
Alvarez was the MVP of the 2021 American League Championship Series and finished third in AL MVP voting last season, when he hit .306 with 37 homers and 97 RBIs in 135 games.
“With these oblique injuries, they're very tricky," Brown said Wednesday on his weekly visit with SportsTalk 790 AM in Houston. "I think it's going to take at least two weeks to get a feel for how it's feeling, how does he feel?
“So you take those two weeks, and then another week to figure out when he starts to have some activity, how's his body responding? So that's three weeks right there.
“So you're looking at, once he starts to swing a bat, maybe it's four weeks or so.”