Seventeen months ago I started writing this Pittsburgh Pirates blog. After the first few months of having a very uninteresting blog name, I changed the name of my website to "The 'Mc' Effect". I did this because my two favorite Pirates players, Nate McLouth and Andrew McCutchen both had two things in common - they played centerfield and their last names both began with the letters "Mc". The name came about before Nate McLouth was traded to Atlanta, and consequently before Andrew McCutchen made his big league debut.
Was I upset when the Pirates traded Nate McLouth out of nowhere? Certainly. Was the call-up of Andrew McCutchen worth every bit of it? Absolutely. The younger "Mc" replaced the elder "Mc" and has been a better player by leaps and bounds since the trade and will continue to be for the rest of their careers.
That's the past, this is the present:
The Pirates, who always have the welfare of my blog in mind, traded Octavio Dotel for a couple of prospects, one whose name is James McDonald. McDonald is making his first start as a Pittsburgh Pirate tomorrow, so I figured that I would welcome him in correctly to the Pittsburgh Pirates "Mc" family (a very small, awkward family it is...).
James McDonald came over from Los Angeles, where he has been playing since 2008. McDonald is 25 years old. He was drafted in the 11th round of the 2002 draft at the age of 17. He was rated baseball's 59th best prospect in 2009, and got as high as #2 on the Dodgers prospect list last season. It took McDonald over 5 years to finally reach the major leagues, where he has compiled a 4.11 ERA in 76.2 innings. He has made 5 starts in his major league career and the rest has come out of the bullpen. His career strike out rate is 7.4 K's/9 and his walks are at 4.7 BB/9.
Our newest family member is 6'5'' and is the son of former NFL receiver James McDonald, who played for the Rams and Lions in the mid 80's. He throws a fastball in the lower 90's velocity wise, a fairly nasty curveball, and a changeup that is effective only when used at the right time. His stuff isn't spectacular, but he can definitely get some swings and misses with the curve, and his size seems to add weight onto his heater.
McDonald has some success in the majors in 2009, his first full season as a big leaguer. He made 4 starts and appeared in 41 other games, posting an ERA of 4.00 with a WHIP of 1.492.
As a new "Mc" rolls in, a different "Mc" rolls out... at least into the bullpen. Daniel McCutchen is headed to the bullpen as McDonald takes his spot in the rotation. McCutchen has really not turned out to be anything like what the Pirates thought he could be when they acquired him in the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade. That trade has worked out majorly for the Pirates with guys like Jose Tabata and Ross Ohlendorf, so no hard feelings towards McCutchen from me.
As of right now, 12% of the Pirates players on the active roster are apart of the "Mc" family. I've e-mailed all the players requesting legal name alterations so we can get that number up some. The Pirates offense needs to get going against the Rockies this weekend get our home record back around .500, and I expect Pedro McAlvarez and Garrett McJones to step up their game a little bit and help McDonald get a win in his Pirates debut. Let's Go Bucs.
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