Dustin McGowan

Dustin McGowan
Toronto Blue Jays — No. 29
Starting Pitcher
Born: March 24, 1982 (1982-03-24) (age 29)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 30, 2005 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Win–Loss	20–24
Earned Run Average	4.80
WHIP	1.39
Strikeouts	305
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2005–2008, 2011-present)

Dustin Michael McGowan (born March 24, 1982) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Long County High School in Ludowici, Georgia in the 1st round with 33rd pick of the draft on June 4, 2000. He made his major-league debut on July 30, 2005 against the Texas Rangers and received a no decision, having pitched 5 innings and allowing 1 run. He struck out six batters, the most by a Toronto starter in a Major League debut at the time.^[1] Marc Rzepczynski had seven in his debut on 7 July 2009 versus the Tampa Bay Rays. He was born in Savannah, Georgia.

2005–2006 seasons

McGowan bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation during his first 2 seasons with the Blue Jays. He struggled in his rookie season following his impressive Major League debut, posting a 6.35 ERA in 13 games including 7 starts. At the beginning of the 2006 season, McGowan was recalled by the Blue Jays from the Syracuse SkyChiefs to take the place of the struggling reliever Jason Frasor. In his second stint with the team McGowan struggled once again and was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse on May 11 to work as a starter.

In 2005 Baseball America named him the #1 prospect in the Blue Jays' farm system and he was considered one of the cornerstones of the Blue Jays' future. However, his slow development, and in particular his lack of control, stirred up trade rumors during the 2006 off-season, while he had previously been off-limits to potential trades.

2007 season

McGowan would have been eligible to be claimed off waivers had he not made the 2007 Blue Jays 25-man roster out of Spring Training, but the Blue Jays were granted another minor-league option year for him. This enabled the team to send McGowan back to the minors, if necessary, without exposing to waivers during the 2007 season.^[2]

McGowan started the 2007 season impressively for the Syracuse Chiefs. Despite an 0–2 record at the end of April, he had a 1.64 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 22 innings. This led to a call-up to the Blue Jays rotation in early May after an injury to Gustavo Chacin. On June 19, 2007, he was rocked for six runs on 8 hits over one and two-thirds innings in a 10–1 Jays defeat, and took the loss. He would redeem himself in his next start on June 24, 2007, as he had a no-hitter in the first 8 innings against the Colorado Rockies at Rogers Centre, allowing only an 0–1 single to the first batter he faced in the ninth, designated hitter Jeff Baker, making him just the 6th pitcher in franchise history to carry a no-hitter into the 9th inning. He went on to record a shutout, the first of his career as well as his first complete game. On September 7, 2007 McGowan recorded a career high 12 strikeouts against Tampa Bay Devil Rays, while giving up just 2 runs in 8 innings of work.

"That was fun to watch. All along, ever since they drafted this kid, they've been expecting stuff like this from him, and he's certainly capable. Today was one of the better games I've seen him throw. He had everything going." said catcher Gregg Zaun, who caught McGowan's complete game shutout.

McGowan finished the 2007 season with a 12–10 record and a respectable 4.08 ERA. Of his 27 games, 18 of them were quality starts, and he ranked second on the team with 169.2 innings pitched and 144 strikeouts to solidify his place as the number three starter in Toronto's rotation behind ace Roy Halladay and AJ Burnett, where he began the 2008 campaign.

Because of diabetes, McGowan now wears prescription lenses to improve his vision in low-light conditions.^[3]

2008-2011

McGowan had compiled a 6–7 record with an ERA of 4.37 and 85 strikeouts prior to the 2008 All-Star break. But on July 8, he was forced to leave the game early with pain in his shoulder. On July 10, he was put on the 15 day disabled list. Then on July 26, it was announced that McGowan would undergo season-ending surgery to repair fraying of the labrum in his shoulder. He was expected to return during the 2009 season, but his recovery was slower than initially anticipated. McGowan began throwing from level ground in early May 2009. However, further injury befell him and on July 9, 2009, McGowan had knee surgery to repair articular cartilage damage,^[4] requiring six weeks of recovery before continuing his rehabilition programme.^[4]

McGowan was expected to pitch sometime in June 2010, but he experienced shoulder pain during early June and it was found that he has a torn rotator cuff and had season ending surgery, he was expected to have to wait 4–6 months before he could resume throwing. It was hoped that McGowan can recover and be ready for the 2011 season, of the second surgery GM Alex Anthopoulos said that "We're optimistic that he'll be able to come back and we'll continue to work with him once he starts throwing."^[5]

On August 2, 2011, Manager John Farrell said he expects to add McGowan to the Jays rotation sometime in September. He is expected to join the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats after one more start with the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays.^[6]

On September 5, 2011, McGowan was activated from the 60-day disabled list.^[7] The following day, McGowan made his first appearance in over 3 years, against the Boston Red Sox. McGowan pitched 4 innings, and gave up 3 earned runs while striking out 5 and walking 3

References

1. ^ McGowan impressive in ML debut
2. ^ The Official Site of The Toronto Blue Jays: News: Toronto Blue Jays News
3. ^ Blue Jays pitcher Dustin McGowan finally sees possibilities - BostonHerald.com
4. ^ ^{a b} "McGowan's comeback derailed by knee injury". CBC Sports. 2009-07-23. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2009/07/23/sp-mcgowan-knee.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 
5. ^ "McGowan Surgery Finds Torn Rotator Cuff; Can't Throw for Months". TSN. 2010-06-22. http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=325403. Retrieved 2010-08-08. 
6. ^ "McGowan could return to Blue Jays in September". Associated Press. The Sports Network. 2 September 2011. http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=373087. Retrieved 2011-09-05. 
7. ^ "Jays activate Dustin McGowan". Associated Press. ESPN. 5 September 2011. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6932668/toronto-blue-jays-activate-dustin-mcgowan-60-day-dl. Retrieved 2011-09-05. 

External links

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

Persondata
Name	McGowan, Dustin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 24, 1982
Place of birth	Savannah, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death