(Image credits: Billie Weiss, Boston Red Sox: Getty Images)
With the return of baseball finally on the horizon, it feels like all those offseason transactions we once stressed over occurred in a different lifetime. The Red Sox, in case you somehow forgot, surely had quite the eventful offseason, but to sum it up for you: Mookie Betts and David Price were traded to the Dodgers, Brock Holt signed with the Brewers on a one-year deal with a club option for 2021 for $3.25 million, Rick Porcello is on a one-year $10 million dollar deal with the Mets, Chris Sale underwent Tommy John surgery and ideally will be back at the earliest in June 2021, Kevin Pillar and Alex Verdugo are now on the team, Martin Perez is now apart of our starting rotation, Ron Roenicke is the new manager, and on March 5th, the Red Sox quietly signed veteran right-handed pitcher 33-year old Collin McHugh to a one-year $600,000 contract.
After a disappointing 2019 campaign for the Sox, it’s not a real hot take to say the team’s pitching staff in general struggled quite a bit last year. Now with key pitchers in Sale, Price, and Porcello all gone, the Red Sox needed to make some moves to build their pitching staff for 2020, and while some of us might have forgotten McHugh is even on the team (it’s okay, he forgot his own jersey number it’s been so long), it’s an incredibly smart signing by the Sox.
McHugh is a proven right-handed pitcher who despite his numbers, did not gain much interest on the open market over the offseason, most likely due to injury. He suffered an elbow injury in August last season while with the Astros and was shut down for the remainder of the season. McHugh only appeared in 35 games last season, starting in 8 of them with a 4.70 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and in 74.2 innings pitched, had a 82/30 K/BB ratio. While those stats might now particularly “wow” you, it’s important to take a look at McHugh’s numbers in a season where he’s healthy. In 2018, the Astros made the transition for McHugh from a starter to reliever and to say he rose to the occasion would be an understatement. In 72.1 innings pitched in 2018, McHugh struck out 94 batters, only allowing 6 home runs all season. In his 58 appearances out of the bullpen that season, he ended the year with a 1.99 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, one of the best amongst relievers in the entire league.
While a healthy Collin McHugh out of the bullpen is a force to be reckoned with, he also has years of experience under his belt as a starter. During this year’s spring training (the first time around) McHugh told the media he is comfortable in whatever role the Sox give him, may it be as a starter or reliever. Sure, he might not be the be-all end-all solution to the many question marks within the Sox starting rotation, but he is a very good option as a third or fourth starter if he’s healthy enough to do so. In his rookie season with the Astros in 2014, McHugh started in 25 games for Houston, posting an impressive 2.73 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He finished 4th in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He followed up his rookie campaign in 2015 finishing in 8th place for the AL Cy Young award after starting in 32 games with a 3.89 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. His success as a starter continued into the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and while he recently has solely worked out of the bullpen, his success in both realms makes him a very smart pickup for the Sox.
Not only is it a smart pickup for Boston, it’s a relatively risk-free one that only cost the Sox $600,000, a surprisingly low amount looking at McHugh’s stats. One-year deals, especially in this case, can often be looked at as an experiment to see if and how a player fits in within a team. Though his injury history last season is unsettling, McHugh has been rehabbing all offseason. Prior to the delay in the 2020 season from COVID-19, McHugh was not expected to be gametime ready anytime soon. However with Spring Training 2.0 now starting up in July and the regular season to begin on either July 23rd or 24th, things are looking more promising. While Chaim Bloom told MassLive two days ago there’s still no exact timetable on his return, he’s been progressing well. “I don’t want to put a timetable on it, but I think it’s a possibility [McHugh being available by the start of the regular season]. He is doing well. He is working through basically a mound progression. He’s off the mound now and basically progressing towards games. He has tolerated everything really well. We’ve tried to build him up really responsibly,” Bloom told MassLive. The shortened 60-game season could surely work in McHugh’s benefit, lightening his work load, whether that be as a starter or a reliever. His versatility makes him even more of a risk-free signing; there is no expectation for him to be some stud starter or Chris Sale’s replacement by any means. If the Red Sox do choose to put him in the rotation, again it would be as the third or fourth starter, who if anything, will hopefully eat innings. However even if it doesn’t work out for McHugh in the rotation, he’s proven himself as a reliever and would certainly be a difference maker in a wildly inconsistent bullpen.
Ultimately McHugh’s success will rely upon if he is able to stay healthy all season. He proved himself in Houston to be an important asset to the team’s pitching staff, and we can only hope he can do the same in Boston.
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