HOUSTON -- His first healthy offseason in five years morphed into a promising spring for Astros veteran right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., whose velocity was increasing along with his optimism as the start of the regular season approached.

McCullers would have to wait his turn, though, behind Hunter Brown, Mike Burrows, Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai, each of whom took the ball against the Angels over the weekend. None were able to complete six innings, which put early-season stress on the bullpen and left the Astros in need of something extra from McCullers.

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