McHughworks on issues with delivery

Righthander Collin McHugh has been on a roller coaster recently.

The veteran starter turned reliever walked the first two batters he faced but managed to sweep up the mess he created to cleanly finish the Astros’ win on Tuesday.

In his last five outings, McHugh has allowed seven hits, six earned runs and seven walks in 52⁄ innings.

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“He’s not been synced up in his delivery,” manager A. J. Hinch said Wednesday. “That’s caused him more to be erratic. He’s a tremendous strike thrower when he’s right.”

In addition to landing his slider for strikes, McHugh needs to correct the timing in his delivery for “his fastball to have a little more true spin and carry through the zone,” the manager added. “When his arm is a little bit late, he sprays the ball all over the place. It’s very uncharacteristic of him.”

After the two walks, McHugh struck out All-Star Charlie Blackmon with a textbook lowand-inside slider.

“When he gets locked back into the strike zone, you see those swings and misses,” Hinch said. “He can do a lot of things with the ball, but it starts with him being able to repeat his delivery.”

Although McHugh has disappeared from high-leverage situations, the manager plans to give McHugh more appearances to refine his delivery.

“I keep trying to put him out there, so he will catch his rhythm,” Hinch said. “I'm glad he got through last night relatively unscathed. The more he pitches, the better he will be.”

Sitting Springer opens opportunities

George Springer had the day off Wednesday. Resting him gave manger A. J. Hinch the chance to tinker with outfield machinations, which gave reps to some starters at different positions and platoon hitters at the plate.

Michael Brantley started his fifth game in right field and Aledmys Diaz his third in left field. Jake Marisnick started in center.

“I like to give guys a rest during the day,” Hinch said of Springer.

The Astros were off Monday and will be off Thursday, which risks some hitters going cold because they would go too long without facing in-game pitching.

“If we’re not careful, guys like Diaz and Marisnick don’t play for five, six, seven days, and that’s not good either,” Hinch said.

The manager particularly has been interested in keeping Diaz in the lineup. He is hitting .176 with two homers in six games since returning from a hamstring injury July 22.

“I don’t want to have to wait four or five days before we play him again,” Hinch said. “It’s tough decisions when you have to take guys out of the lineup, but also it’s an easy decision because we have capable replacements.”

Peacock looking more like reliever

With Aaron Sanchez hurling himself securely into the fifth starter spot, Brad Peacock (right shoulder discomfort) is training to return with the Astros as a reliever.

Peacock bounced between the bullpen and rotation before getting hurt. He is rehabbing with the Class AA Round Rock Express and pitched a 1-2-3 inning Wednesday at El Paso. The plan now is to rest for at least two days and then pitch on back-to-back days.

The righthander made all but one of his 61 appearances in 2018 out of the bullpen. This season, he only threw 41⁄ innings as a

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Hinch has not completely ruled out plugging Peacock in for a spot start, if needed.

“We always have the ability to build him up rather quickly,” said Hinch, who added the Astros more likely would call up Jose Urquidy or Framber Valdez for a spot start.

Pressly sharp in outing in minors

After a stellar inning of relief in his rehab assignment with the Class AAA Round Rock Express on Tuesday night, righthander Ryan Pressly (right knee soreness) flew to Houston to be evaluated further.

“He was really, really good,” Astros manager A. J. Hinch said Wednesday. “Faced only three hitters. Hopefully that’s his only outing and we’ll talk about what his next step is.”

Pressly took a line drive off his knee on July 18 and went on the 10-day injured list July 27.