He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves.

Born in Naperville, Illinois, McHugh graduated from Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn, Georgia,[1] and attended Berry College.

McHugh made two more starts before being demoted on August 24 to make room on the roster for Jeremy Hefner.

[11] In 2015, McHugh set a number of career highs, including a second-place finish in the American League (AL) in wins with 19, behind teammate Dallas Keuchel's 20.

Hence, McHugh and Keuchel became the first Astros teammate duo to reach at least 19 wins each since Mike Hampton (22–4) and José Lima (21–10) did so in 1999.

[13] The Astros made the postseason, and McHugh started and won Game 1 of the American League Division Series (ALDS) versus the Kansas City Royals.

On April 6, 2017, he left a game while on rehab assignment with the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies after feeling tightness in his elbow and biceps.

In 2018, he had the third-lowest swing rate for his in-strike-zone sliders of any pitcher in baseball (43.9%), behind only Aroldis Chapman (42.5%) and Robert Stock (43.1%).

[18] McHugh began the 2019 season as a starting pitcher for the Astros, a job he secured in spring training.

[20] On July 19, the team announced that he would not play during the start-delayed 2020 season, noting that McHugh's "elbow was not responding as he had hoped" following a non-surgical procedure during the offseason.

[25] On July 7, McHugh combined with Josh Fleming, Diego Castillo, Matt Wisler, and Peter Fairbanks to no–hit the Cleveland Indians.