Major League Baseball

McHugh's career turnaround coincided with switch to gluten-free lifestyle

Published May. 31, 2015 11:44 p.m. ET

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Houston Astros pitcher Collin McHugh is now a dependable #2 behind ace Dallas Keuchel, but it wasn't always that way for the right-hander.

Prior to joining the Astros in December 2013, McHugh owned a career record of 0-8 and an ERA of 8.94. So far with Houston, he's 16-11 with a 3.17 and is currently 5-2 on the 2015 campaign.

As MLB.com's Alyson Footer revealed in a recent article about McHugh, his sudden turnaround from MLB journeyman to top-of-the-rotation arm happened to take place around the same time he switched to a gluten-free diet. 

Regarding cutting out the gluten, McHugh chalks his decision up to one central factor: "I gave it up. Because I felt so much better."

Footer notes in her piece that McHugh, 27, made the change in part as an attempt to alleviate chronic stomach pain that plagued him for most of his life. By the time he made the decision to change, shortly before the Astros obtained him on a waiver claim, he felt better. After sticking to the gluten-free diet, McHugh says he lost a substantial amount of weight and picked up some additional energy: "The times you feel bad or you're drained weren't as frequent. Energy-wise, there was a big difference."

Whether McHugh's newfound success can be directly linked to the dietary change is uncertain, of course, but the timing just may be more than coincidental.

Whatever the case may be, as he told Footer, he's a big advocate of the lifestyle now: "Just from a holistic point of view, it helps everything. It helps you on a day-to-day basis. It helps you get your work in a little bit easier. You're not dragging as much. Over the course of a 162-day grind, it's good to be at your best or close to your best every day."

(h/t MLB.com)

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