Astros' Lance McCullers: Ahead of schedule

McCullers (forearm) said Tuesday that he's been throwing at 90 mph on back-to-back days at "high intensity" and considers himself ahead of schedule, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

A timetable for McCullers' return has never really been established, so it remains unclear when he might be available to make his season debut. Nevertheless, the news is encouraging and it would appear he should progress to mound work soon. McCullers missed all of spring training with a strained forearm injury, one that's plagued him intermittently dating back to the 2021 postseason.