What About McDonald?

The Dodgers are finally starting to play well, but their pitching still needs to make some major adjustments. Seriously, Hiroki Kuroda cannot do everything all by himself. So, with Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley still trying to find their form, why don’t the Dodgers call up pitcher James McDonald? I know McDonald did not play particularly well during spring training, but the guy does have talent. And with the team ERA at 4.68, there’s relatively low risk in calling up McDonald.

Last season, McDonald went 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 63 IP. While McDonald has a ton of talent and potential, he’ll need to work on a few things down in the minors before the Dodgers call him up. Currently with Triple-A Albuquerque, McDonald is 2-1 with a 4.71 ERA. He also has a K/BB ratio of 27/14 in 28.2 innings of work. If McDonald can turn things around within the next couple of starts, the Dodgers should at least consider giving him another chance at the big league level.

At 25, I don’t see why the Dodgers would want to keep McDonald down in Triple-A, especially since the team as a whole has been rather inconsistent. The offense has kept the Dodgers around in the division, but they’ll need all the pitching they can get if they’ll want to catch up to the San Diego Padres, who lead the division by 3.5 games. The Dodgers currently sit five games out of first place, and their pitching is preventing them from taking the next step in reclaiming the NL West. San Diego and San Francisco have both been pitching great so far this season, and the Dodgers desperately need some relief for their struggling staff. James McDonald could potentially provide some much needed relief.