Astros’ Pitchers: MVPs, surprises, and disappointments

Disappointment – Collin McHugh

Was it too much to ask, to move McHugh from starter to reliever and back to starter again? Is the inconsistency in roles possibly affecting his performance? Maybe he’s better suited to be a reliever.

Whatever the issue is with McHugh, he gets my vote for disappointment of the year. It’s early, and he may turn things around. I certainly hope so for him and the Astros. Just recently he was relegated back to the bullpen again. Yet another change. Only time will tell whether it’s just a temporary move or more of a permanent situation.

Corbin Martin definitely stated his case to remain in the starting rotation, when he pitched in McHugh’s slot Sunday. He had a stellar performance in his Major League debut. Ironically, McHugh was the pitcher to come in for relief when Martin’s day was done.

McHugh is 2-3 and has an ERA of 6.33, currently the highest on the Astros’ active roster. He is also last in the pack with a 68 ERA+. These numbers are the worst of McHugh’ six-year stint here in Houston.

Last year as a relief pitcher McHugh had a great season. His ERA in 2018 was an impressive 1.99 and his ERA+ soared to 207. He also had a 0.912 WHIP and a HR/9 of 5.6. All of these statistics and others from last season were all career bests.

They say that it takes a different type of mentality to be a relief pitcher than it does to start games. Maybe the Astros found out last year that McHugh was secretly a top-notch weapon out of the bullpen, instead of a starting pitcher.

Now that he’s back in the reliever role, however long that will be, we’ll get a chance to further see if he is more capable coming in as a relief pitcher. Once Jose Altuve is back off of the IL there will be one man too many on the roster. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.