HOUSTON -- Right-hander Lance McCullers won't make his start on Saturday for Double-A Corpus Christi, as he is experiencing continued soreness as he rehabs from a shoulder issue that sidelined him for nearly all of Spring Training.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said on Friday that McCullers, who is on the disabled list, has not been shut down. Last Monday, pitching for Corpus Christi, McCullers threw three innings of one-hit ball.
"It's more of a nuisance than anything to recover quickly after his outings," Hinch said. "It's been a challenge for him. We'll continue to give him extra days and tweak his throwing program a little bit to make smart decisions. To make sure he feels good.
"It's continued soreness. He wasn't sore while he pitched. He feels great when he throws, then the next day ... I think every pitcher that throws is sore. Now you're determining whether or not it's something more significant. If he continues to feel bad after outings, we're not going to continue to push our program on him."
McCullers didn't perform baseball activities Thursday or Friday, though Hinch said he will probably throw sometime over the weekend.
McCullers held the opposition to three earned runs or fewer in 20 of his 22 starts as a rookie last season.