Macay McBride

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name = Macay McBride
team = Detroit Tigers
number = --
position = Relief pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1982|10|24
birthplace = city-state|Augusta|Georgia
bats = Left
throws = Left
debutdate = July 22
debutyear = 2005
debutteam = Atlanta Braves
statyear = 2007
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 6-2
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 4.35
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 98
teams =
*Atlanta Braves (by|2005–by|2007)
*Detroit Tigers (by|2007)

Joseph Macay McBride (born October 24, 1982 in Augusta, Georgia) is a Major League baseball relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. McBride was traded to the Tigers on June 20, 2007.

Career

High school

McBride attended Screven County High School in Sylvania, Georgia, and made his mark as a power pitcher with a fastball in the low 90s. As a high school junior he led the all-state Team Georgia to victory in the annual Sunbelt Classic and was named the tournament's most valuable player (MVP). In his final season (by|2001) McBride went 11-2 and notched 161 strikeouts. The "Augusta Chronicle" named MacBride to its all-area team every year, and considered MacBride "one of the state's most dominant pitchers." Although MacBride initially committed to the University of Georgia, which had offered him a baseball scholarship, in the end he entered the amateur draft and was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round, 24th pick overall. [cite news | title=Georgia snags Screven ace standout: Left-handed pitcher unofficially commits to Bulldogs after record-breaking high school career | work=Augusta Chronicle | first=Tim | last=Morse | date=August 12, 2000 | page=D1] [cite news | title=Screven county lefty has high hopes for draft | work=Augusta Chronicle | date=June 5, 2001 | first=Larry | last=Williams | page=C1] [cite news | title=Braves take McBride in first round with 24th selection overall, Atlanta drafts lefty who starred at Screven County High School | work=Augusta Chronicle | date=June 6, 2001 | first=Tim | last=Morse | page=C1]

Atlanta Braves

The Braves gave McBride a $1.34 million signing bonus and assigned him the Gulf Coast Braves, their Rookie-level minor league affiliate. [cite news | title=Screven's McBride signs with Atlanta | work=Augusta Chronicle | date=June 15, 2001 | page=B9] McBride worked primarily as a starter in the Gulf Coast League, going 4-4 with a 3.76 ERA and averaging nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings. In by|2002 Atlanta promoted McBride to the Single-A Macon Braves, where went 12-8 and led the South Atlantic League with a 2.12 ERA. [cite news | title=McBride finishes strong at Macon | work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution | date=September 1, 2002 | first=Guy | last=Curtright | page=5F] Promoted again in by|2003 to the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans, McBride went 9-8 with a 2.95 ERA.

McBride made the jump from Single to Double-A ball in by|2004 when he joined the Greenville Braves. He struggled in Greenville, posting a 1-7 record with a 4.46 ERA. Among his teammates that year were former Tigers pitcher Brian Moehler and future Tigers/Mud Hens teammate Zach Miner. [cite web | url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/2004/10210.shtml | title=2004 Greenville Braves Statistics | work=TheBaseballCube.com | accessdate=2008-07-09] McBride followed the Braves to Mississippi in by|2005 as the franchise relocated and showed improvement, going 3-1 with a 3.65 ERA over six appearances. Atlanta promoted him to the Triple-A Richmond Braves, where he compiled a 1-5 record with a 4.33 ERA, almost wholly in relief. Lefties only hit .172 against him while he played for Richmond.

McBride was recalled from Triple-A on July 21, 2005 after the Braves traded Kevin Gryboski to the Texas Rangers. He made his major league debut on July 22 and pitched 14 innings for the Braves in 23 games, with a 5.79 earned run average and 22 strikeouts in his rookie campaign. McBride rejoined Atlanta for the 2005 National League Division Series, pitching an inning of scoreless relief in Game 1 against the Houston Astros. [cite news | title=Game 1:Astros 10, Braves 5: Braves report | work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution | date=October 6, 2005 | page=5D | first=Carroll | last=Rogers]

McBride completed his first full season in the Majors in by|2006, finishing with a 4-1 record and a 3.65 ERA in 71 appearances. He recorded his lone save of the season on May 21, 2006 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the start of the by|2007 season McBride struggled with his control was consequently optioned to Richmond to work on his control problems. [cite news | title=McBride sent down to work on control issues | work=Augusta Chronicle | date=April 15, 2007 | first=Adam | last=Van Brimmer | page=C6] Atlanta recalled McBride in mid-May, and he put together a 1-0 record with a 3.60 ERA before the being traded to the Detroit Tigers on June 20 for pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma. McBride, a native of Georgia, expressed disappointment: "I don't feel anything right now.... Growing up watching the Braves, I wanted to be part of a team that wins here. But these guys [Tigers] are pretty good, too." As it happened, the Tigers were coming to town for an interleague series, so McBride simply moved his belongings from the home clubhouse to the visitors' clubhouse. [cite news | title=BASEBALL: BRAVES REPORT: Dealt for Ledezma, McBride saddened | work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution | date=June 21, 2007 | first=David | last=O'Brien | page=5B]

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers put McBride to work in the bullpen, where he went 0-1 with a 6.12 ERA before the Tigers optioned him to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens in mid-August. In the off-season McBride announced that a broken bone in his elbow had hampered his efforts. [cite news | title=BRIEF: MACAY MCBRIDE: In disappointing '07, Tiger reliever 'had a little broken bone' in elbow | work=Detroit Free Press | date=January 13, 2008] On April 6, 2008, McBride went back on the disabled list at Toledo with "soreness in his throwing elbow." [cite news | title=BRIEF: Tigers minor leaguer McBride placed on DL at Triple-A Toledo | work=Detroit Free Press | first=Jon Paul | last=Morosi | date=April 6, 2008]

External links

References