James McDonald, 2nd Half MVP, Update

Last week, I wrote this post, talking about Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher James McDonald and his efficiency and progression throughout the year. I came to the conclusion that he was very inefficient up until June 22nd, when he kind of turned a corner. He was very good in his first 3 starts after that date, and he made another one on Monday against the Braves, and it was probably his best of the year. His pitch f/x for that start are here.

So let's revisit this subject again. Here's his 2011 pitch results from all of his starts before June 22nd.

and here are the updated results from his 5 starts after the 22nd:

You can see the difference there. All of his strike percentages are up, which has brought all his swing percentages up, and his whiff rates have also increased substantially. He is a completely different pitcher when he has his control, and he's been just phenomenal in his last 5 starts. In those 5 outings, McDonald has a 1.52 ERA with 32 strikeouts and only 10 walks in 29.2 innings. He's 4-1 with a .259 BAA, and opposing hitters are slugging just .339 off him in this stretch. He has a 63% strike percentage, up 3% from his season mark before these 5 starts.

It's a whole new J-Mc (I have started intentionally leaving the "a" out of that, he is now called "Jay-Mick"), and he really showed what he could do Monday night against the Braves, striking out 9 batters in 5.1 innings and not allowing a single run. His changeup was filthy Monday night, although he threw it only 9 times, he got 5 swings and misses on it. If he can get that pitch going, he's going to be nearly unhittable.

James McDonald is in close contention with Paul Maholm for best Pirates pitcher right now, and if he keeps doing what he's done these last 5 starts, he will be your 2nd half Pirates MVP easily, and you heard it here first.