Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. has been on the disabled list since Aug. 5 because of a muscle strain in his forearm, and Houston manager A.J. Hinch says that he is unlikely to return to the rotation once he's healthy, the Associated Press reports.

When Hinch spoke to reporters on Sunday, he acknowledged that it would be difficult for the Astros to build McCullens back up as a starter before the season's end. McCullers has posted a 3.93 ERA and a career-high 138 strikeouts in 126 innings over 22 starts this season.

McCullers was originally scheduled to throw a bullpen session as early as this weekend in Anaheim, but his rehab was slowed down because of a "continued lack of progress." Hinch told reporters that they are still targeting September for him to resume throwing off the mound.

"We knew it was September until we were going to consider doing anything. Then we thought we could be a little bit more aggressive with him, but we're going to put that on pause and just have him do a throwing program,'' Hinch said.

"He's feeling pretty symptom-free. I think his throwing has been fine, but kind of the re-evaluation of him, we've decided to push it back."

"I guess never say never cause once you get on the mound and get going things can progress a different way, but I think the focus will be and probably should be shorter stints," Hinch said.

The right-hander has had experience working as a reliever, most notably during the Astros' World Series run in 2017. McCullers closed out Game 7 of the American League Championship Series with four scoreless innings against the New York Yankees.

The Astros sit in first place in the AL West with a 1 1/2-game lead over the Athletics. The two teams will meet in a pivotal three-game series in Houston on Monday.