New Red Sox pitcher Collin McHugh regrets not speaking up while with the Astros

"I think a lot of the guys on that team, including myself, are looking back now and wishing we had been as brave in the moment as we thought we were beforehand."

Collin McHugh, right, spent six seasons with the Houston Astros. Barry Chin/Globe Staff

March 6, 2020

1 minute to read

The newest Red Sox right-hander, Collin McHugh, wishes that he and his fellow pitchers had spoken up about the Astros’ sign-stealing during their 2017 World Series run.

McHugh made just 12 regular-season starts that year due to arm injuries, but he said he and others on the Astros pitching staff should have been “brave” enough to say something.

“You’ve got to be willing to stick up for what you believe in and what you believe is right and what you believe is wrong,” McHugh said Friday, per ESPN. “And I think a lot of the guys on that team, including myself, are looking back now and wishing we had been as brave in the moment as we thought we were beforehand.”

“Sign stealing is universally across the board bad for pitchers. And we know that. It made our jobs harder. And we truly believed — or we were made to believe — that it was happening to us, too. And we don’t know if that was true or not, but that’s not justification for doing anything. Just because you think they’re doing it is not justification for doing something you know is not right.”

McHugh is not expected to be on the opening day roster for Boston as he recovers from a flexor injury, according to ESPN.