The Keepers: - #40 - RHSP - Collin McHugh

40.         RHSP         Collin McHugh

The Mets drafted McHugh in the 18th round of the 2008 draft. 2008 stats as SP for Berry (a favorite drafting school for the Mets): 4.67 ERA 61.2 IP 67 H 20 BB 62 K 15 HBP

In 2008, McHugh pitched for Kingsport (0-0, 4.17, in 12 games, 8 starts).

McHugh played 2009 for the Brooklyn Cyclones and had an outstanding year: 8-2, 2.76. 79K in 75.0 innings pitched.

1-1-10 Forecast: - McHugh is one of those under-the-radar kind of pitchers that just creeped up this year with great stats. Normally, some of these kids go straight to Lucy the next year, but the “Savannah Four” should prevent that from happening this time. Look for McHugh to join most of his Clone buddies in Savannah come March.

8-6-10: - McHugh is one of the many talented players to come out of Savannah this year, but, as we have learned so many times over the years, pitching well in A ball to youngsters is a long way from the majors. Needless to say, McHugh has impressed us this year, especially Wednesday night when he went: 6.0-IP, 0-ER, 7-K, 2-BB, 4-H. Seasonally, he hasn’t had much support from his teammates; however he still is posting a respectful 3-8, 3.56. 1.40, with 98-K in 112.0-IP.

2011 Forecast:  McHugh will obviously move on to St. Lucie in the spring and begin the very diffifcut climb throw both the A+ and AA levels. These are the levels where most of your control pitchers fall out of grace unless they develop addition velocity on their fast ball, or deliver nastier secondary stuff. We won't know what the Mets have here until around the spring of 2013, but, in Collin's case, it may be worth the wait.

6-1-11: -      There seems to be concrete evidence that there may be a number of “limited-velo” pitchers out there that deserve a shot at higher levels, regardless of what they have done in the past. They all seem to be college boys that were started too low in the organization also. We’ve got Dillon Gee masquerading as the Mets SP1, Mark Cohoon and Chris Schwinden stepping up at  Buffalo, and now Collin McHugh starting in AA after losing his rotation spot a level lower. Collin put up: 6.0-IP, 3-H, 1-ER, 5-K, 0-BB, 1.50 and this is just another example usually written off as a “first time around the block” lucky outing. But, ya know what, it’s still great pitching that simply wasn’t hit by anyone.

8-12-11: - http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=38516 - McHugh worked the fastball in and out, showing good command. But the pitch that garnered the most swings and misses was a slow, downward breaking curve ball, thrown at 72-74 and used primarily with two strikes. He did not throw it that often, and you sometimes forgot he had the pitch in his arsenal until he broke it out for a key whiff. McHugh does not have that superb “upside” that so many analysts and scouts love and thrive on, but McHugh does know how to pitch, has good command and does strike guys out, averaging 9.2 K/9 for his pro career. He has started and relieved in most seasons and could make a decent back end of the rotation type pitcher, throwing the ball like a Dillon Gee.

8-20-11: - You just knew that McHugh would have his adrenalin up pitching in Fenway Park Saturday afternoon. His line: 6.0-IP (does any Met pitcher ever go past six innings?), 0-R, 4-H, 6-K, 1-BB, 3.33. I can’t wait to read his blog tomorrow morning.

9-3-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/09/prospect-pulse-buffalo-2012-help-on-the-way.html - SP3:  Collin McHugh - I am quite certain that the sole purpose of the Mets sending McHugh to the Arizona Fall League, is so he can be better prepared to make the jump to AAA in 2012. Don’t look for him to be promoted anytime next year to the bigs however, as he needs to establish himself in Buffalo and show the kind of consistency he has had in 2011, before he gets a call-up ahead of Harvey or Familia. He pitched Thursday night and had his best game of the year, to go 8-2, in his final AA start: 9 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 11 K’s and 2 BB’s.

10-26-11: - http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/26/colemans-corner-mets-position-players-shining-in-arizona-sun  - At St. Lucie, McHugh pitched in 9 games, making 6 starts. He went 1-2 with a 6.31 ERA while the league hit .318 against him. Not great. He was then bumped to Double AA Binghamton and again started slow. At the All-Star break, he was again 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA, giving up 39 hits in 37 innings with a 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But manager Wally Backman saw something he liked in McHugh, worked with him, and he took off from there. After the Double AA All-Star break, McHugh was undefeated – 7-0 with a 1.53 ERA – yielding just 34 hits over 47 innings, with a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (54K’s-11BB). But McHugh has had his problems in Arizona. He’s 1-2 again in 3 starts and 1 relief appearance – but this time with a hefty 8.18 ERA, surrendering 18 hits in 11 innings

11-13-11: - http://www.metsblog.com/2011/11/13/afl-round-up-juan-lagares-has-been-stellar-this-fall -  •Continuing the theme of inconsistent pitching, RHP Collin McHugh has been disappointing this fall, going 1-3 with an 8.06 ERA in seven games and six starts for Peoria. He’s allowed 37 hits and nine walks in only 22 1/3 innings. He split his time between Double-A Binghamton and Single-A St. Lucie this past season, going a combined 9-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 27 games and 22 starts.