Back to the Houston Astros Newsfeed

From starters to closer, pitchers doing the heavy lifting in early going

SEATTLE — Tuesday’s scheduled start for righthander Collin McHugh marks 364 days since he made his Astros debut in this same park, the Mariners’ Safeco Field.

McHugh surprised everyone that night with a dozen strikeouts. He’s been a force for the Astros since, including in the early going of 2015, bucking concerns the league would pick up on his style and adjust to him.

“I remember sitting right here, I think I was in this (same) locker or that locker (one over to the left),” McHugh said in the Astros’ clubhouse Monday. “It was different because it wasn’t my first big league start, but it had the feeling of just the kind of a first start, something new, something different.