NEW YORK — Astros right-hander José Urquidy is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Sunday with a start for Triple-A Sugar Land, manager Joe Espada said.

Urquidy is returning from a forearm muscle strain sustained in spring training. He is tentatively slated to throw four innings or 60 to 65 pitches in his first rehab start, Espada said. 

That suggests Urquidy might need three rehab starts to build up his pitch count before the Astros would consider activating him. Urquidy has faced hitters twice in live batting practices in his rehab process.

Urquidy was projected to open the season in Houston’s rotation before suffering a forearm strain in mid-March. The right-hander made a career-high 28 starts in 2022, then posted a 5.29 ERA in 16 outings (10 starts) last season around a three-month absence due to a shoulder injury.

Outfielder Chas McCormick is also expected to begin a rehab assignment this weekend with Sugar Land in his return from a hamstring injury. The length of McCormick’s rehab assignment will depend on “how he bounces back from each game,” Espada said. 

“We want to make sure that the hamstring feels 100 percent and when he comes back we don’t have to deal with that anymore,” Espada said.