Pirates’ starter, James McDonald, was placed on the disabled list right before his start on Tuesday with stiffness in his right shoulder. The 28-year-old may only miss one start with the DL placement retroactive to May 1st depending on how he feels over the next few days.
Jeanmar Gonzalez took Mcdonald’s spot in the rotation and infielder Josh Harrison was recalled from AAA Indianapolis.
Fantasy Play: It was clear something was off about Mcdonald this year. The righty went from a fantasy desirable back-of-the-rotation 2012 season (12-8, 4.21, 171IP, 151K, 1.26 WHIP) to pretty much useless in any league format in 2013. Mcdonald entered Tuesday with a 5.76 ERA in six starts accompanied by a hideous 1.65 WHIP.
We’ve seen happy endings to situations like this, most notably from Phil Hughes last season when a dip in velocity out of the games was followed by a DL stint and then followed by helping fantasy owners win categories down the stretch. Mcdonald is not worth stashing at this point, but pay attention to him on the waiver wire in the coming weeks.
