Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos continued to stay busy on Tuesday after an emotional Monday that saw him replace long-time franchise great Freddie Freeman at first base with slugger Matt Olson.
The first order of business was to lock Olson up to a long-term contract extension. The second was to bolster the right-hand side of the bullpen with arguably the best reliever remaining on the free agent market.
Who is Collin McHugh?
Collin McHugh is a 34-year-old right-hander and 10-year major league veteran, most recently pitching for the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. Last season McHugh had his best season since converting to the bullpen, pitching to a 1.55 ERA in 64 innings over 37 appearances. This included 7 starts in the “opener” role used extensively by Tampa Bay. McHugh struck out 74 and walked only 12.
McHugh grew up in Georgia, going to Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn (not the same school, but the same town that Matt Olson called home). He then attended Berry College in Rome, GA before being selected in the 18th round of the 2008 draft by the New York Mets. McHugh was called up in the 2012 season to appear in 8 games for the Mets. Next season he was traded to the Colorado Rockies in a mid-season swap for Eric Young Jr. That offseason he was designated for assignment by the Rockies in order to make room for newly acquired reliever Boone Logan and Houston claimed him on waivers.
McHugh appeared in 4 games for AAA Oklahoma City before being recalled to Houston where he found immediate success as a starting pitcher for his new club. McHugh pitched to a 2.73 ERA in 25 starts for Houston in 2014, allowing him to garner a 4th-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. The next two seasons he made 32 and 33 starts respectively, exceeding 200 innings in 2015 and finishing 8th in Cy Young voting.
The 2017 season turned out to be an injury-plagued one for McHugh as he dealt with shoulder tendonitis and elbow tightness, limiting him to 12 starts. He did make two relief appearances for Houston in their World Series winning effort, albeit aided by the team using electronic measures to steal opposing signs. During the subsequent investigation in 2019, McHugh admitted to knowing about the cheating and expressed regret for not speaking out against it.
Houston converted McHugh to reliever full-time in 2018 and he responded with a 1.99 ERA in 72.1 innings, typically being used in a multi-inning role. A return to the rotation in 2019 did not go well and after 8 starts McHugh returned to the bullpen where he again found success.
A free agent before the 2020 season, McHugh signed with the Boston Red Sox, but did not appear in a game following elbow problems, keeping him from pitching in the shortened 60-game season. He then signed with Tampa for the 2021 season. He threw in two games for Tampa Bay in their ALDS series loss to Boston, allowing 3 runs in 3.2 innings.
The Stuff
Working as primarily a four-seam/sinker/curveball pitcher during his tenure in Houston, McHugh reinvented his repertoire last season to dramatically increase the usage of the slider, which is one of the better ones in the game. He now rarely uses the low-90s 4-seamer, relying on a cutter to deceive batters.
McHugh’s 1.3 fWAR would have lead all Braves relievers in 2021.
Collin McHugh, K'ing the Side. 😷 pic.twitter.com/VbgIEKt5fL
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 7, 2021
The Deal
McHugh comes to the Braves on a two-year, $10 million guarantee. He will be paid $4 million this season, $5 million in 2023, and has a $6 million club option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout.
The $10 million contract value puts McHugh on the same salary level as fellow free agents right-hander Yimi Garcia and lefty Brooks Raley, two slightly younger relievers who do not have as established track records as McHugh. Right-hander Chris Martin, whom McHugh is essentially replacing in the Braves bullpen, signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal earlier today with the Cubs coming off a down season.
Before the offseason, FanGraphs rated McHugh the 33rd best free agent on the market and the third best relief pitcher after closers Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen.
Final Thoughts
McHugh has been a pitcher that I was hoping Atlanta would target the last three off-seasons. The slider is truly elite, but is noticeably different than the more vertical but equally lethal “death pitch” slider employed by the Braves’ primary right-hander, Luke Jackson.
While the left-side of the “Night Shift” looks as formidable as any team’s — Will Smith, Tyler Matzek, A.J. Minter, and likely Sean Newcomb — the right side was looking less certain after Jackson. While picking up former Giant Jay Jackson from waivers could be a sneaky-good acquisition, it was looking like the team would need to get significant contributions from pitchers with mixed track records like Jacob Webb, Touki Toussaint, or even Kyle Wright or Spencer Strider. All of those pitchers certainly have the talent to step up and do the job well, but this takes some of the pressure off of pushing them into higher leverage roles, or in the case of Strider, it is more likely to keep them in the minor leagues for more seasoning.
While Alex Anthopoulos was adamant that McHugh was being brought in strictly as a reliever, one can’t help but look at his experience as both a true starter and a Tampa Bay-style “opener” and think back to the World Series where Atlanta was forced to use a rusty Tucker Davidson and an overwhelmed Dylan Lee to start Game 3 and Game 4. If they need to use an opener in a situation like that again, it would be nice to have Collin McHugh on the staff.
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