James McDonald
Los Angeles Dodgers — No. 31
Pitcher
Born: October 19, 1984 (1984-10-19) (age 25) Long Beach, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 17, 2008 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Win-Loss	5-5
Earned run average	3.65
Strikeouts	56
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (2008-present)

James Zell McDonald (born October 19, 1984, in Long Beach, California) is a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

[edit] Baseball career

McDonald was selected by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the June 2002 MLB Draft out of Long Beach Poly High School. As a draft and follow pick he played at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He pitched for the Gulf Coast Dodgers in 2003, but missed all of the 2004 season and most of the 2005 season due to injury. He returned to pitch for the Ogden Raptors at the end of 2005 and the Columbus Catfish in 2006.

McDonald started 2007 with the Inland Empire 66ers before he was promoted to the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. He was named the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year in 2007. In August 2008, he was promoted to the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate, Las Vegas 51s. He went 1-0 in his first two starts, striking out 20 batters in that span.

He was called up to the Dodgers on September 1, 2008. He made his major league debut on September 17, 2008, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, working one scoreless inning in relief.

McDonald earned a spot in the Dodgers' starting rotation to start the 2009 season and started his first game in the majors on April 10 against the San Diego Padres, allowing five runs in a little over two innings. He made three more starts, only lasting as many as five innings in one (April 25 against the Colorado Rockies, his first career victory), and then was demoted to the bullpen. With an ERA of 6.75, he was optioned back to AAA on May 14, and then recalled by the Dodgers on June 19. After being recalled, he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen the rest of the season.

His cousin is Cincinnati Reds outfielder Darnell McDonald.

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)