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

By Noah Wright

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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.

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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.

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