The trade that sent Lance McCullers Jr. from the Astros to the Brewers was enough to drag Dodgers fans right back to 2017.
That World Series still sits like a bruise in Los Angeles, and McCullers is part of the reason why. He started Game 7 for Houston, worked into the third inning, and after he allowed two runners on base, AJ Hinch turned to the bullpen.
The move worked. Houston’s relievers, plus four solid innings from Charlie Morton, kept the Dodgers quiet while the Astros jumped on Yu Darvish for 1⅔ innings.
A lot has changed since then, and most of that Astros rotation is long gone. Dallas Keuchel has been unsigned since 2025.
Morton retired last year. Justin Verlander has said he plans to retire after this season.
McCullers is still around, but durability has never really let him settle in. Injuries were already part of his story before 2017, and they’ve followed him ever since. In the eight-and-a-half seasons since that World Series, he has thrown fewer than 500 innings.
Even so, Milwaukee went ahead and made the move on Wednesday, adding McCullers along with reliever Colton Gordon. The Brewers will absorb at least $2 million of what remains on McCullers’ five-year, $85 million deal.
McCullers and Houston agreed to that extension before the 2021 season, and for a while it looked like a smart bet. He put together a career-high 162⅓ innings with a 3.16 ERA and picked up enough Cy Young support to make the contract feel justified.
But the production hasn’t held up. Over the five seasons since, he has logged just 142⅓ innings and missed all of 2023 and 2024 because of injury.
Milwaukee has one of the best pitching labs in the sport, maybe the best, so if anyone could squeeze something useful out of McCullers, it would be the Brewers. Still, there’s only so much any team can do if the injuries keep coming. He’s carrying a 6.86 ERA in eight starts this season and has already spent time on the IL.
The Brewers remain one of the biggest threats to a Dodgers three-peat, but this is the kind of move that only makes sense if you believe you can fix what’s been broken for years.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Veteran Exit And A Bigger Roster Crossroads
The Dodgers pitching depth took another small hit when a veteran left-hander chose free agency after being designated for assignment, a move that came once Landon Knack was activated from the injured list. It is the kind of roster churn that has become familiar for a club trying to keep its rotation covered while waiting for injured starters to work back, and it adds one more layer to a staff that has been constantly in motion.
Freddie Freeman also offered a reminder that the season can make long-term questions feel distant, saying he is focused on this year and would like to get to 20 major league seasons. Meanwhile, Dave Roberts addressed Eric Lauers place as a sixth starter and acknowledged the possibility that he could become a trade piece before the Aug. 3 deadline if the Dodgers get healthier in the rotation, which leaves the club balancing immediate innings against whatever comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers May Finally Have The Young Arm This Rotation Needs
With the All-Star break here and the Dodgers sitting atop the standings, the front office can afford to think beyond the next series and toward the kind of rotation help that tends to matter most in October. One name worth watching is River Ryan, whose return from injury has been moving along with the kind of patience Los Angeles prefers when it is dealing with a young arm it believes can matter later.
Andrew Friedman has made it clear the Dodgers are not interested in rushing the process, even with the need for another starter looming in the background. Ryan is expected to work his way back into the mix later this season, and if everything goes smoothly from here, the club may finally get a better sense of how soon he can become part of the answer rather than just another promising arm on the way up. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Fans Have A Bigger Roki Sasaki Concern Than They Realized
Roki Sasakis first season in Los Angeles has been bumpy enough that the Dodgers are spending the All-Star break looking for answers, not just results. He finished his final start before the break with six innings of work, allowing four hits and three earned runs, and the broader line has been hard to ignore: a 3-5 record and a 5.33 ERA through 16 starts.
The encouraging part for the Dodgers is that Sasaki is still in the rotation, which gives the club time to keep working through what has gone wrong. The less comforting part is how quickly the conversation has shifted from simple command issues to a deeper mechanical concern, and the next few weeks should tell whether the break gives him a reset or only a brief pause in a season that has already asked a lot of him. [Read more 🡒]