--- title: Watch This Baseball Pitcher Pull Off a 'Matrix' Move description: During a game between the Astros and the A's, pitcher Collin McHugh had a moment from 'The Matrix' in real life as he evaded the ball. canonical: https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-17T15:15:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:07.750Z og:title: You Need to See This Pitcher's 'Matrix' Move in Slow Motion og:description: Watch Astros pitcher Collin McHugh evade the ball by an inch og:url: https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte26298c3c5e7d1cc/6989487cdb298714de2622d3/matrix-move-baseball-pitcher-astros.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: This Baseball Pitcher Pulled Off a Matrix Move og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Need to See This Pitcher's 'Matrix' Move in Slow Motion twitter:description: Watch Astros pitcher Collin McHugh evade the ball by an inch twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte26298c3c5e7d1cc/6989487cdb298714de2622d3/matrix-move-baseball-pitcher-astros.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Give This Baseball Pitcher Who Pulled Off the _Matrix_ Move a Trophy Immediately ## Video: The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jmgi9JDp.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2019-04-17. The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer_ by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Apr 17, 2019 3:15 PM UTC  Houston Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh delivers during the Major League Baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on April 16, 2019 in Oakland, Calif. Houston Astros starting pitcher Collin McHugh delivers during the Major League Baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on April 16, 2019 in Oakland, Calif.Cody Glenn—Icon Sportswire/Getty Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Apr 17, 2019 3:15 PM UTC Talk about bending over backwards. During Tuesday night’s game between the Astros and the Oakland Athletics in Oakland, Calif., some kind of miracle — or a moment from the film _The Matrix_ — seemed to happen. The A’s first baseman Kendrys Morales hit a line drive right at pitcher Collin McHugh’s head. But, by the force of magic, witchcraft or an angel, McHugh evaded the ball. > [](https://twitter.com/NBCSAthletics/status/1118344708504182784) With the ball coming towards McHugh with that kind of velocity, the slow-motion video of the moment is breathtaking. McHugh slid his body backwards as the ball sliced between his mitt and his face. It was far too close for comfort, but somehow, it didn’t touch him. Astros home plate umpire, Chris Guccione, reportedly told the pitcher he simply had to watch the video immediately. “‘You’ve got to watch it. It went right here.’ So we both turned around and watched the big screen,” McHugh said after the game, according to [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/athletics/astros-pitcher-collin-mchugh-does-matrix-impression-win-over). “He was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know how you did that.’ I don’t either. Kind of lucky, I think.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/"},"headline":"Give This Baseball Pitcher Who Pulled Off the Matrix Move a Trophy Immediately","datePublished":"2019-04-17T15:15:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:07.750Z","description":"Watch Astros pitcher Collin McHugh evade the ball by an inch","url":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte26298c3c5e7d1cc/6989487cdb298714de2622d3/matrix-move-baseball-pitcher-astros.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. Greenspan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte26298c3c5e7d1cc/6989487cdb298714de2622d3/matrix-move-baseball-pitcher-astros.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"This Baseball Pitcher Pulled Off a Matrix Move","caption":"MLB: APR 16 Astros at Athletics","creditText":"Cody Glenn—Icon Sportswire/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/","name":"Give This Baseball Pitcher Who Pulled Off the Matrix Move a Trophy Immediately"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer","description":"The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jmgi9JDp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-04-17T15:55:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jmgi9JDp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/","duration":"PT2M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5572386/baseball-pitcher-matrix-move/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```