March 8, 2021 4:07 PM : McHugh, making his first game appearance since Aug. 30, 2019 in Sunday's Grapefruit League loss to the Twins, came away encouraged despite a rough one-inning outing, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports. "Having a little bit of familiarity, being back on a mound where it feels comfortable to me, it meant a lot today," McHugh said. "I didn't like the results, but man, I love being out there. Physically, I felt great. From a feel standpoint, obviously, it's still getting there."
Analysis: The right-hander's final line -- three earned runs allowed on three hits and a walk over one inning -- was undeniably abysmal, but McHugh was able to make a long-awaited return to the mound and got some robust work in the form of 25 pitches. The most critical takeaway for McHugh, who opted out of last season as a health precaution and while he finished his recovery from a forearm flexor strain, was that he reported feeling good physically after that workload. Manager Kevin Cash, who liked the way McHugh mixed his pitches, noted he plans to build the veteran up to three or four innings this spring "and see where it goes from there."