About James McDonald and Charlie Morton

The Pittsburgh Pirates have some pitchers with Major League Baseball experience trying to work their way back to the big leagues.  Charlie Morton and James McDonald both got knocked around yesterday in their rehab starts.

Morton allowed five runs, four of them earned over five innings while giving up seven hits.  Electric Stuff walked three and struck out three while throwing 88 pitches.

In two AAA starts, Morton has walked five in eight innings.

In looking at his total work, the walks are still a concern for #ElectricStuff.

JMac got two outs.  Two.  He didn’t even get out of the first inning for the Altoona Curve.  McDonald gave up two walks before the fans had found their seats and then a three-run bomb.  Another hit and two walks were enough as JMac was pulled after throwing 33 pitches.

McDonald answered no questions with his outing for the Curve.  To think that McDonald wasn’t able to throw a strike to the first batter of the game scares the shit out of me.

"“To me the big thing is health,” McDonald, looking for any kind of positive, said afterward. “My shoulder felt decent, so that’s the biggest thing for me.”“That’s the thing that sucks, Finally get back on the mound, ready to compete and hit a little bump in the road with a blood blister.”"

The 40.50 ERA is sorta ugly too.

But not that any of that matters right?  It’s not the results of the minor league assignment that matter, it’s that the pitchers are healthy and getting their work in.

Perhaps both of them could simply throw strikes too?   That would make me a bit less concerned.