Astros to send Lance McCullers to DL with back discomfort

The Houston Astros will place pitcher Lance McCullers on the 10-day disabled list with back discomfort.

McCullers told reporters Monday that he and the Astros felt it was the "right time" for him to return to the DL. The hard-throwing right-hander missed two weeks last month with back discomfort and has struggled in recent outings, posting a 9.64 ERA over his last four starts.

"At some point enough is enough. [Starting pitchers]Collin [McHugh] and Dallas [Keuchel]are back now, so talking with everyone, we just felt it was the right time to address it again," he said. "We hopefully have a better plan of action going forward now to get ready because our main goal and our focus is to win the world series and I need to be 100 percent."

McCullers acknowledged to reporters that he has not been 100 percent of late but said he wanted to continue making his turns in the rotation for the injury-plagued Astros, who had been without Keuchel, Charlie Morton and McHugh until recently.

McCullers is 7-3 with a 3.92 ERA this season for the first-place Astros.