The Braves announced that right-hander Collin McHugh has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. Left-hander Jared Shuster has been recalled to take McHugh’s spot on the roster.
McHugh, 36 in June, is in the second year of a two-year, $10MM deal, though the club has a $6MM option for 2024 with a $1MM buyout. He served as a starter earlier in his career but he’s become an effective reliever in recent years, which continued in the first season of his current contract. With Atlanta last year, he tossed 69 1/3 innings over 58 appearances with a 2.60 ERA. He struck out 27.6% of batters faced while walking just 5.1% and getting grounders at a 39.9% clip.
It’s unclear how long he’s expected to be out of action but the club will have to get by without him for at least a couple of weeks. With closer Raisel Iglesias also on the IL due to shoulder inflammation and reportedly still not throwing, they will have to proceed without two of their best high-leverage relief options. That work is now likely to fall to pitchers like A.J. Minter and Joe Jiménez, at least for the time being.
If there’s one silver lining in McHugh going on the shelf, it’s that it helps the club deal with a gap in their rotation. The club went into the spring with four rotation spots filled by Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright, with the final spot up for grabs. Wright was delayed in spring and needed to start the season on the injured list, allowing both Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd to get starts in the early going. When Fried got hurt on Opening Day, they need another arm, calling up Bryce Elder for that job. Amid all that roster shuffling, Shuster got optioned to the minors, which normally requires a 15-day period before being recalled. However, an exception is made when a player goes on the IL, allowing Shuster to return to the active roster earlier. Wright is expected to be activated next week when first eligible, which could lead to one of Dodd, Shuster or Elder getting optioned.
Seems too convenient that the Braves needed a starter for Friday and a corresponding roster move needed to be made in order to call someone up. Surprised they didn’t wait until after the game tonight to announce it.
They’re not putting a good reliever on the il with a phantom il lol!
David’s right. McHugh is to valuable for that.
@SalaryCapMyth I 2nd that, this is definitely not a Tommy Hunter type of situation.
Ya. I’m not even saying it doesnt happen. This just wasn’t it is all.
What happened with Tommy Hunter?
McHugh didn’t look right last night. I think it is legit
I guess nobody can say the Braves aren’t going thru some injury struggles like a lot of the other teams right now. They will weather the storm with depth.
Just lost Harris tonight to a back injury as well.
Yeah it’s tough but he can still do his podcast—so at least there is that! And him being such and amazing guy I’m sure his karma is so good he will be back in 15/20 days when needed.
Big blow. Hope he’s okay soon. Compare his contract to guys like Montero. I never understood how they got him so cheap. Perhaps he gave them a discount because they won the WS. Idk. Perhaps other players/managers/etc were mad about the Astros thing. Who knows? He is usually used in the most high leverage situations too instead of just being limited to a set role pitching a certain inning.
His wife is from Georgia
Not to mention he played high school ball in Georgia.
You gotta hand it to her.
If Shuster sticks, the Braves will have a perfect track record with their 2020 draft The ultimate plug and play franchise. Lose 4 pitchers? No biggie, just call up three new starters.
I heard Collin do some ST broadcasting. Whenever he’s done as a player, he’d make a great color man, if he doesn’t want to coach.
At Truist right now. Righty close situation are gonna be tight. Time to step it up boys.