Haven’t seen him pitch either, but been a fan/observer of his for the last year and a half or so. He seems to have a real good sense for pitching, despite being relatively new to the position (previously an OF). While not overpowering, he isn’t exaclty a soft tosser either as it’s been reported he can get it up there in the 94 mph range. I’ve read that he effectively adds and subtracts velocity from his FB while his secondary pitches (CB and CU) are plus pitches. Being in the NL and, as goose mentioned, a fair ballpark for HRs, I also think his ceiling could be as high as a number two. It’s been said he can be a Brad Radke type (probably because of the HRs) and I would probably agree with that. One could argue that he’s a little better prepared to contribute to the Dodgers this season than Kershaw is. Maybe that’s why he was bumped up to AAA recently.

he appears to be one of those guys whose stuff plays up for whatever reason. I saw him in the Cal league and I thought he had an ave FB (was at 88-91), ave CB, ave CH with not particularily good command, but he continues to progress his way up the chain doing very well along the way. He must be one of those guys that is really hard to pickup, because his stuff is average across the board.

Strange how that is in baseball: guys that should dominate with their stuff often flame out while guys that should be nothing special put him very tangible MLB careers. He seems to be one of those guys

Not sure I would call his stuff average. I suppose he’s not a max velocity guy like a Henry Rodriguez , who consistently gets it up there over 95 mph. But like I mentioned before, McDonald does bump it up to 94 mph occasionally and his body seems like it has quite a bit of room to fill out. So I wouldn’t rule out more velocity in the future. Right now, his curve is without question his best pitch and already is considered a plus pitch. His change up is emerging as one too. I think this combination along with the fact that he really has a good feel for pitching has contributed to his lofty K numbers wherever he pitches.

I saw a start of his early in the season, probably his 2nd or 3rd start of the season with Jacksonville. As I recall, his FB never showed more than 90 or 91 on the scoreboard gun, but it looked to me like it seemed to have some late movement or zip to it. I think his ability to locate and mix pitches is mainly how he keeps batters off balance. This was against Tennessee and he didn’t have too much trouble handling their lineup but he was noticeably tired in the 6th inning and was pulled before the start of the 7th. Like I said, it was early in the year so maybe he wasn’t at full strength at the time. My guess is that he could be one of those pitchers who may struggle any given night if his stuff is not 100%.

From what I’ve read he still needs some refinement. Being a Dodger allows him to avoid being thrown to the wolves before he’s ready.