I started working on an Electric Meter for James McDonald last night, but once I got a ways into it I realized it was going to end up being quite involved and I fell asleep instead of finishing it. What I can tell you about his last two starts right now is this: through two starts, I thought his problem was that he was having trouble throwing his changeup for strikes and staying away from it as a consequence. He’s used the change plenty in the last two starts, though (12 of 85 pitches against Cincinnati, 11 of 69 against Florida) and he’s throwing it at least semi-reliably for strikes and he’s gotten worse results. I also thought anecdotally that his velocity was down a bit this year, but against Florida on Thursday his fastball averaged 92.5 mph and topped out at 94.2. Last year with the Pirates, his fastball averaged 92.4 mph. That’s about what it’s been all year, except for his start in Cincinnati, which was a hair slower. I don’t think velocity is his problem. The other question that I have is if his fastball is “straighter” this year; I didn’t see any proof that it was last time I looked, but I think it’s worth digging a bit deeper. I need some time for that, though, so hopefully it’ll be ready Monday.
I worked up a piece about Ryan Braun for The Outside Corner, with the question about the contract that I think is most pertinent to the Pirates.
Colin Dunlap says that the Pirates will almost surely file a claim on Brandon Wood before today’s noon deadline. I understand the thinking here, but I’ve already said that I’m not sure it’s a move that will bear much fruit for the Pirates. He’s just not a guy that I’d waste a whole lot of time on. If the Pirates want to play him for a couple of months, I guess I wouldn’t hate that move, but my gut feeling is that it’s going to be something between a small waste of time and a huge waste of time for the Bucs.
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