Just as the Red Sox appeared to be improving their pitching depth with the return of two pitchers sidelined earlier, the team lost Collin McHugh for the 2020 season when McHugh made a determination Sunday to opt-out for the year.
McHugh had undergone elbow surgery in the offseason and had signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox earlier this year. He had thrown a bullpen near the start of Summer Camp, but recently felt he wasn't making the necessary progress. With just a 60-game season ahead and the likelihood that he would spend the entirety of it on the IL, apart from his family, McHugh decided to opt-out altogether and return home to Atlanta.
"His arm's not coming around as hoped,'' said Ron Roenicke. "That's the decision he's made. We support it. We know it was a tough decision for him. He did tell me he felt bad, but this is what he thought was best for he and his family.''
Roenicke said before the pandemic cut short spring training and the start of the regular season, the Red Sox were hopeful that McHugh would be ready by July.
"Then, after we had that delay, he came back,'' said Roenicke. "He was still just monitoring and it was still a rehab. We were still trying to bring him back and get him to the point where we thought he would be a good pitcher for us. It's always a tough decision when you make these things. I know he felt bad about it. He seemed to be pleased about how things were going except, certainly, the arm.''
McHugh has been successful both as a starter and reliever in his career, but could have given the Sox another established arm for their rotation, which has been thinned considerably. Chris Sale is lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April and Eduardo Rodriguez will not be ready to start the year after being laid up by COVID-19, and the Sox are, for now, projecting Brian Johnson as their No. 4 starter and likely leaning toward using an opener in the fifth and final spot.
McHugh will be taken off the 40-man roster soon, opening a valuable roster spot for the Red Sox. The team currently stands at 39, and McHugh's subtraction will give them 38, room enough to add Johnson -- who was taken off the 40-man roster over the winter -- and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who signed a minor league deal with the team back in March.
There have been roughly 15 or so MLB players who have decided to opt out for the 2020 season, though most have done so citing concerns over the safety of their families during the pandemic in doing so.
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