Earlier this week the Astros promoted 21-year-old pitching prospect Lance McCullers from Double-A to Triple-A, but now he’s making a slight detour: Houston will call up McCullers for his MLB debut Monday against the A’s.
The move was made because Brett Oberholtzer has a blister problem, so it’s unclear whether the Astros are considering keeping the 2012 first-round pick in the majors for more than a spot start.
McCullers struggled with his control last season on the way to posting a 5.47 ERA at high Single-A, but he racked up 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings to match electric raw stuff. This season at Double-A he was nearly unhittable, throwing 29 innings with a 0.62 ERA and 43/11 K/BB ratio.
Houston is a contending ahead of schedule and with McCullers and soon No. 1 prospect Carlos Correa on the way to the majors the talent level will rise even higher.
