11-Year Veteran Pitcher, World Series Winner, Announces Retirement

After an 11-year career that included a World Series championship and two seasons pitching for his hometown team, 36 year old right-hander Collin McHugh has hung up the cleats.

Shout out to @Collin_McHugh 🫡

11-year MLB career capped by helping his hometown @Braves secure two more division titles.

Enjoy retirement. pic.twitter.com/QZzqnDyNPr
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) January 22, 2024

In posting his retirement announcement on Instagram, McHugh was modest about his career, stating, “I was never the best player on any team I played for. Including my 7th grade church league team, on which I played catcher.

“I threw 90 mph. I was NEVER supposed to make it out of A ball. 16 years later, it’s finally time for me to hang ‘em up. And as cringey as it might sound, I’m proud of myself. Proud that I didn’t give up."

But he did make it out of A-Ball, and plenty more. As the 18th-round selection by the New York Mets in the 2008 MLB Draft, McHugh compiled a career 71-47 record with a very fine 3.72 ERA. He switched between starting and relieving over the course of his 11 seasons, starting 127 of his 346 games.

He grew up in the Atlanta area and wrapped up his career with two seasons for the Braves, including 2023, when he was 4-1 with a 4.30 ERA. He won a World Series with the Houston Astros in 2017, and had his best season there in 2015, going 19-7 with a 3.89 ERA and earning enough votes to finish eighth in AL Cy Young Award balloting.

Collin McHugh announced that he is retiring from baseball. Here's a memorable moment that happened 4 years ago, when he was playing for the #Astros that I'm sure most fans remembered very well... pic.twitter.com/SJqJqceyzM
— Josh (@Josh_b_lewis92) January 22, 2024