Houston Astros right-hander Collin McHugh will be placed on the Injured List after manager A.J. Hinch spotted a lack of velocity and movement from his fastball and slider:
Collin McHugh is going on the injured list. Jose Urquidy is up.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 31, 2019
The official designation for McHugh's trip the IL is not known, though some sort of discomfort label is likely to be assigned to the 32-year-old veteran.
Houston had hoped that McHugh would be able to slot into the starting rotation after the team lost Lance McCullers Jr. to Tommy John surgery and let Charlie Morton sign with the Tampa Bay Rays in free agency. McHugh had been a starter from 2014 to 2017, so it appeared to be an easy call to bring him into the fold.
Initially, McHugh had some success in his return to the rotation. McHugh notched a quality start in three of his first four outings, and had a 1.96 ERA and a 10.7 K/9 in 23 innings of work.
However, McHugh struggled to replicate that success in his next four starts. His ERA ballooned to 6.37 after he gave up eight runs in three innings against the Royals on May 7, and he was pulled from the rotation.
McHugh began to gain comfort in his familiar role as a reliever. Although he had a rough month of July, McHugh had a 0.61 ERA and 10.4 K/9 in 14 2/3 innings of work in August.
In fact, since he returned to the bullpen, McHugh has a 2.67 ERA and 10.7 K/9 in 33 2/3 innings, and he has five holds as a setup man.
With Ryan Pressly already on IL, McHugh's injury is yet another frustrating setback for Houston's bullpen as they hope to outlast the Yankees for the top seed in the American League heading into the playoffs.
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