This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Lance McCullers Jr. will go back on the Injured List after getting a blister on his pitching hand finger. McCullers has been on the IL several times in his career, as curveball pitchers often get blisters from the grip and pressure needed for that pitch. The only fix? Time.

At this point, all the Astros can do is survive until the cavalry arrives. Even then, the team still has a lot of work to do in order to truly compete with the upper echelon teams of the league this year.

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is speaking out against disgruntled fans on social media who allegedly sent death threats to him and his family in response to a poor pitching ...