McHugh is behind the rest of the Astros starting pitchers in his throwing arm after coming into spring training with a "general dead arm," Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Although the dead arm set him behind in his throwing program, the right-hander feels confident that he'll be able to get in the four starts he needs to be ready for the beginning of the season. He's been throwing for about a week now, and will likely toss his first bullpen session early next week. When he's able to return, he'll slide into the middle of Houston's rotation, where he posted a 4.34 ERA while registering 8.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 184.2 innings last season.