Lance McCullers Jr. will go back on the Injured List after getting a blister on his pitching hand finger. McCullers has been on the IL several times in his career, as curveball pitchers often get blisters from the grip and pressure needed for that pitch. The only fix? Time.

McCullers’ injury serves as yet another blow to the Astros pitching staff. He now joins a long list of injured pitchers that includes Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco, J.P. France, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, and Hayden Wesneski.

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros seek to build upon a three-game win streak with a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona has a 50-52 record overall and a 26-27 record at home. The Diamondbacks have the fifth-ranked team batting average in the NL at .253.

(from Steve Schaeffer’s postgame coverage of Astros vs. Reds from 5/11/25)

Michael Shapiro is a sports reporter for Chron, covering the Astros, Rockets, Texans and every team in town. Michael is a Denver native and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a noted fan of pull-up threes, wide-receiver passes and a good hot fudge sundae.

In trading the McCullers, the team should simply keep their sights set on nailing down a solid starting lineup that can get them through to the postseason and eventually the World Series as they fight for a third one, and avoid what happened last year, being eliminated in the Wild Card round by the Detroit Tigers.