Collin Alexander McHugh (born June 19, 1987) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB). He previously played for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. Listed at and , he throws and bats right-handed.

Amateur career

Born in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

, McHugh graduated from Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn, Georgia, and attended

Berry College Berry College is a private liberal arts college in the Mount Berry community adjacent to Rome, Georgia. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Berry College was founded on values based on Christian princip ...

. In 2007, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

and the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

. He was drafted by the

in the 18th round of the

2008 Major League Baseball Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

Professional career

New York Mets

McHugh was called up to the major leagues on August 22, 2012, and he made his MLB debut on August 23 against the

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

. He pitched seven scoreless

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

s and got nine

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s while surrendering two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

and a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

. Despite his performance, McHugh did not get the win as the Mets lost, 1–0. McHugh made two more starts before being demoted on August 24 to make room on the roster for Jeremy Hefner. Overall with the 2012 Mets, he appeared in eight games (four starts) compiling an 0–4 record with a 7.59 ERA. During 2013, McHugh made three appearances (one start) with the Mets; he had a 10.29 ERA and an 0–1 record.

Colorado Rockies

The Mets traded McHugh to the

for outfielder

Eric Young Jr. Eric Orlando Young Jr. (born May 25, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder and current first base coach for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Colorado Roc ...

on June 18, 2013. McHugh appeared in four games (all starts) for the 2013 Rockies, registering an 0–3 record with 9.95 ERA. He was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on December 16, 2013.

Houston Astros

On December 18, 2013, McHugh was claimed off waivers by the

. In 2014, he finished with 11 wins and led the team in ERA, with a 2.73 mark. In 2015, McHugh finished 2nd in the American League in wins with 19, behind teammate

Dallas Keuchel Dallas Keuchel (, ; born January 1, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas R ...

's 20 wins. In 2016, he pitched in a career-high 33 starts, finishing 13–10 with an ERA of 4.34 in innings. McHugh began the 2017 season on the 10-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

due to

tendonitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elb ...

in his right shoulder. On April 6, 2017, he left a game while on rehab assignment with the Triple-A

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in d ...

after feeling tightness in his elbow and biceps. With posterior impingement in his right elbow, McHugh was ruled out for an extended period of time. He was limited to just 12 starts. He appeared in two games of the postseason, pitching a combined total of six innings, allowing a total of one hit and three runs. The Astros won the

2017 World Series The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and th ...

. Three years later, the

Houston Astros sign stealing scandal The Houston Astros sign stealing scandal resulted from a series of rule violations by members of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB), who used technology to steal signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. For yea ...

broke, in which it was revealed that the Astros had cheated during their championship season. McHugh said that he knew about the sign stealing scheme and expressed remorse for going along with it. McHugh made the transition to a relief role in 2018, appearing in 58 games. He finished with an ERA of 1.99 in innings, striking out 94. In 2018, he had the third-lowest swing rate for his in-strike-zone sliders of any pitcher in baseball (43.9%), behind only

Aroldis Chapman Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees and C ...

(42.5%) and Robert Stock (43.1%). McHugh began the 2019 season as a starting pitcher for the Astros, a job he secured in

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

. He was demoted to the bullpen on May 11, 2019, after eight starts. At the time of his demotion, he had registered an ERA of 6.37 in 41 innings. Overall with the 2019 Astros, McHugh appeared in 35 games (8 starts) while recording 82 strikeouts in innings with a 4.70 ERA and a 4–5 record. On October 31, 2019, McHugh elected to become a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

Boston Red Sox

On March 5, 2020, McHugh signed a one-year contract with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. On July 19, the team announced that he would not play during the start-delayed 2020 season, noting that McHugh's "elbow was not responding as he had hoped" following a non-surgical procedure during the offseason. He was added to the team's restricted list on July 23. On October 28, McHugh elected free agency.

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 21, 2021, McHugh signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract with the

Atlanta Braves

On March 15, 2022, McHugh signed a two-year contract worth $10 million with the

. The deal includes a $6 million club option for 2024 and a $1 million buyout.

International career

On October 29, 2018, McHugh was selected as a member of the MLB All-Stars for the

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sam ...

Personal life

McHugh married longtime girlfriend Ashley Buzzy in 2009 in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...

. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Elder, in December 2015. In 2019, McHugh started a podcast called "The Twelve Six Podcast" where he interviewed other MLB players to bring out the human side of baseball.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Collin 1987 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Berry College alumni Binghamton Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chatham Anglers players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Houston Astros players Kingsport Mets players Las Vegas 51s players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Peoria Javelinas players Savannah Sand Gnats players Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois St. Lucie Mets players Tampa Bay Rays players Tulsa Drillers players Wareham Gatemen players