Overlooked Collin McHugh looking to extend Astros miracle season

Dallas Keuchel emerged as the Houston Astros ace in 2015. One of the club’s biggest trade deadline acquisitions was Scott Kazmir. One of their biggest stories was rookie Lance McCullers Jr. Yet, with their season on the line during Wednesday’s Game 5 ALDS matchup against the Kansas City Royals, the team will turn to their most under-appreciated starter.

Collin McHugh will take the rubber in a do-or-die scenario as the Astros look to continue their incredible surprise season. In fairness, he’s not even the most interesting pitcher in this matchup. That honor goes to Johnny Cueto. The ace, and occasional Cy Young contender, hasn’t pitched well since joining the Royals. Even in the biggest game of the season, McHugh can’t seem to grab any headlines.

That should be a familiar feeling. Despite some excellent numbers, McHugh has flown under the radar for Houston the past two seasons. While he hasn’t been as good as Keuchel in 2015, his turnaround has been quite similar. 

Prior to joining the Astros, McHugh was starting to look like a major-league washout. He had shown some promising numbers in the minors, but his lack of fastball velocity made many skeptical that he was getting by on smoke and mirrors. Because of that, it wasn’t a surprise when he struggled once he reached the majors. In 47 1/3 innings, McHugh posted an awful 8.94 ERA. That’s a small sample, but given his non-prospect status and his age, it was starting to look like McHugh was set for a life in the minors. 

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The Astros must have seen something they liked, because the club picked him up on waivers prior to the 2014 season. After 19 average innings in the minors, the Astros decided to call up McHugh as a starter early in the year. With any other team, McHugh may not have received this opportunity, but we’re talking about the Astros here. The team had lost 324 games over the past three seasons. They needed all the help they could get.

McHugh dominated immediately. In his first start, he struck out 12 hitters en route to the win. With Houston, he was a different pitcher. McHugh experienced a bit of a velocity jump in 2014. His fastball went from 90.99 mph with the Colorado Rockies in 2013 to 92.40 mph in his first season with Houston. He also scrapped his sinker in favor of throwing his cutter and curve more often, according to BrooksBaseball.net. 

That success led to some surprising numbers. In 154 2/3 innings, McHugh posted a 2.73 ERA and struck out over a batter per inning. Suddenly, the possible major-league washout was starting to look like an ace.

There were some doubts about McHugh’s ability to replicate his 2014 success heading into 2015, but he more or less delivered. His numbers weren’t as strong. McHugh’s strikeout rate dropped and so did his velocity. While his 3.89 ERA wasn’t as good, there were still plenty of positives. 

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McHugh managed to increase his ground ball rate for the second straight season. As a result, his home run rate dropped slightly. That’s significant considering his early struggles with the long ball. He also threw 200+ innings for the first time in his career. 

He may not have become a true ace, but he proved he could be, at the very least, a mid-rotation starter moving forward. Considering his outlook two years ago, that has to be viewed as a significant achievement. 

And so, with the Astros season on the line, McHugh will get the ball. Given that his growth has mirrored the club’s rise to prominence, that seems fitting.

Few expected the Astros to be in this position right now. Even fewer thought Collin McHugh would ever become the type of pitcher a team could rely on in a must-win scenario. 

After being overshadowed for much of his career, this is finally McHugh’s opportunity to get some much-deserved recognition.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik