McCullers’ return to the rotation could come during road trip

Lance McCullers Jr., who threw Saturday for the first time in six days, could return to the Astros’ rotation during this week’s seven-game trip to Oakland and Seattle.

McCullers, who is on the 10-day disabled list because of lower back discomfort, will throw a bullpen session in the coming days before the Astros determine the exact day for his next start.

“There’s still some things he needs to do in order to satisfy everyone that he’s ready to start. But certainly, the initial goal would be for him to start on the road trip somewhere,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.

Hinch declined to speculate as to which of the two road cities McCullers would start in but acknowledged he’s “pretty confident” Brad Peacock, Francis Martes and Mike Fiers will start the first three games of the Astros’ four-game series in Oakland that begins Monday. David Paulino is tentatively lined up to start the Thursday afternoon series finale unless McCullers returns that day.

McCullers, eligible to return from the DL on Monday, ranks fourth among qualified American League starters in ERA (2.58) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.45) and second in ground-ball percentage (63.0) behind only rotation mate Dallas Keuchel (67.4).

Rehab assignment on tap for Morton

Charlie Morton said Saturday he’s scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Thursday with the Astros’ Class AAA affiliate in Fresno, Calif.

Morton, who has been on the 10-day disabled list since May 28 because of a lat strain, will require multiple starts during his rehab assignment. He said he’s scheduled to pitch two innings in his first rehab start but could simulate a third in the bullpen depending on how he feels.

On Saturday, a day after throwing an extensive bullpen session at Minute Maid Park, Morton proclaimed himself as feeling “great.” He will travel with the Astros to Oakland on Sunday night before traveling to Fresno.

“He was very excited based on his last bullpen session, which is good,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s starting to critique himself on his actual pitching and not how he feels, so that’s always a good sign for me and the coaches that he’s starting to get to the baseball side of things.”

Altuve gets diet of breaking balls

Jose Altuve faced Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz three times in Friday’s series opener at Minute Maid Park. He saw a combined 15 pitches in those three plate appearances. Of those 15 pitches, only six were fastballs.

While on the extreme end of the spectrum, Pomeranz’s plan of attack against Altuve is emblematic of most pitchers this season. A season after his home run spike, the Astros’ star second baseman is seeing far fewer fastballs and more breaking balls.

According to Baseball Info Solutions, Altuve has been thrown fastballs on 47.3 percent of pitches this season, a significant drop from 53.6 percent last year and 59.4 percent in 2015. Yet the heavy dosage of breaking balls hasn’t stopped the two-time batting champion from producing at an elite level; he came into Saturday ranked ninth in the AL in OPS (.910).

“I realize that I’ve seen more breaking balls, but I just try to stay with my plan,” he said before homering in Saturday’s 7-1 victory. “As a player, you have to make adjustments.”

Altuve, who saw six curveballs from Pomeranz on Friday before he saw his first fastball, said earlier in the season he spent more time than usual hitting off the breaking-ball machine before deciding he was overthinking it.

“At the end of the day, just get on base, you know?” he said. “I’ve got more walks this year (26). I’m on pace to break my record (60) if I keep doing what I’m doing because I’m seeing more breaking balls. So I’ll take it. If they keep pitching me with breaking balls, I’ll take it.”

Odds and ends

Dallas Keuchel (neck discomfort), who as of Saturday had yet to resume throwing, will travel with the Astros to Oakland and Seattle. …The Astros aren’t expecting to arrive at their hotel in San Francisco until close to 3 a.m. Monday because of their Sunday night game at Minute Maid Park. … In Oakland, the Astros are in line to face righthander Daniel Gossett on Monday, righthander Sonny Gray on Tuesday, lefthander Sean Manaea on Wednesday and righthander Jesse Hahn on Thursday. Tuesday will be the Astros’ first matchup this season against Gray, a potential trade target. The 27-year-old has a 4.44 ERA through nine starts. Friday’s late game Red Sox 2, Astros 1