McCullers slated for Monday start

All indications point to Lance McCullers’ making his next start Monday night in the Astros’ series opener against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park, according to manager A.J. Hinch.

McCullers was scratched Monday from his scheduled start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels because of a blister on his right index finger. His next turn in the rotation would have been Monday, so at this rate, he essentially will just miss a turn.

“He’s looking fine,” Hinch said before Tuesday’s game against the Angels, in which Scott Feldman made a spot start. “He very well could have pitched today, and we could have taken a risk the blister wouldn’t have gotten worse. But we’re shooting for Monday just to be ultra conservative and not affect the rest of the rotation that’s already being affected by the off day (on Thursday).”

Mike Fiers is scheduled to pitch Friday’s series opener against the Chicago White Sox. Doug Fister is slated to pitch Saturday and Collin McHugh on Sunday.

McCullers played catch Tuesday at Angel Stadium to keep his arm moving but threw only circle changeups as to not yet test pitching with his index finger.

“It’s not like a huge deal,” said the 22-yearold righthander. “A lot of the guys on the team deal with blisters. Their advice was to take it slow and make sure you get rid of it before it gets any worse.”