Houston Astros: Three guys who can replace Lance McCullers Jr. in the rotation
By T.A. Mock
Collin McHugh, RHP
Collin McHugh is naturally the first name to come to mind. In his first four years with the Houston Astros, he was a starter and a pretty good one at that. He was never a top of the rotation guy but he ate innings and provided solid rotational depth.
His four seasons as a starter he had a 3.70 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 3.60 FIP, and struck out 8.4 guys per nine innings while limiting walks. So, not great but, he’s the type of guy you wanted to fill out the rest of your rotation. He was also very healthy up until last year when he was restricted to 12 starts.
After acquiring Verlander last year in August and Gerrit Cole this past offseason, someone had to be bumped from the rotation to the bullpen. That man wound up being McHugh. Since being converted to a reliever, McHugh has pitched 53.1 innings and has a 1.01 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, to pair with 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
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He has been absolutely stellar out the pen. He quickly became one of AJ Hinch’s most trusted options out of the bullpen. McHugh has settled in well as a reliever but, he still views himself as a starter in the future.
The Astros could choose to keep the bullpen as is, with Osuna now in the picture, and bump up McHugh to take that spot. But, McHugh has been training all year to be a reliever and isn’t stretched out to be a starter. His approach has also changed as a reliever which is what has contributed to better stats.
McHugh would be a solid option to replace McCullers but, it could hurt the Houston Astros bullpen down the stretch if he loses his mojo as a reliever.