Fansided
Rum Bunter

Four Low Risk, High Reward Pitchers the Pittsburgh Pirates Should Take a Chance on

By Noah Wright

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 30: Collin McHugh #31 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch in the fourth inning during a MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on August 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 30: Collin McHugh #31 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch in the fourth inning during a MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on August 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Swing man Collin McHugh

Somehow, former Astros’ stalwart pitcher Collin McHugh, is still on the free agent market. He did have a weak 2019 on paper. He had a 4.70 ERA, 4.43 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP through 74.2 innings. His walk rate jumped an entire walk from 2018 to 2019 and he gave up 12 home runs, resulting in a 1.4 HR/9.

But much of his struggles came from his first eight games when he was a starter. McHugh missed some time in June, but when he returned, he looked like a top-tier ace relief pitcher. Through his final 30 innings of 2019, he gave up just nine earned runs, three home runs, while striking out 34 batters and walking just 14.

Next. Pirate Mailbag Spring Edition 1.0. dark

Plus, you can’t forget about his amazing 2018 numbers. Primarily serving as a multi-inning relief pitcher, the right hander pitched 72 innings in 58 games. He carried a sub-2 ERA (1.99), 2.72 FIP, and 0.91 WHIP. He had a 1.4 fWAR, which was higher than Red Sox ace relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel (1.3). His 4.48 K/BB ratio was also top 30 in the MLB. Overall, his peripherals looked like this: 11.7 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, .75 HR/9, and 5.6 hits/9.

Home/Pirates News