Alex McRae

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2014
A-:  3-6-0, 6.21 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 66.2 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 5.9 K/9

McRae had a rough debut.  He started off fairly well in June and July, but got hammered for a 1.034 OPS in August and had his worst start of all in the season’s last game on September 1.  Overall, opponents hit 306/351/475 against him.  The trouble came from left-handed hitters, who pounded him to the tune of 377/434/608.  Right-handed hitters hit 243/276/358.  The Pirates stuck with him all season, though; in fact, he led Jamestown in starts.

2015
A:  8-9-0, 4.98 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 137.1 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 5.9 K/9

McRae pitched out of the West Virginia rotation all year.  He had a better season than 2014, but still was too easy to hit.  Opponents put up a 288/338/432 line against him in a league where the average was 256/325/372.  Left-handed hitters remained his main problem:  his line against them was 328/381/492.  Against right-handed hitters it was 254/303/383.  Of course, even the latter was roughly league average, so he wasn’t great against righties.

2016
A+:  3-4-0, 2.69 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 67.0 IP, 2.3 BB/9, 4.7 K/9
AA:  8-6-0, 4.79 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 88.1 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 6.8 K/9

McRae opened the season at Bradenton.  He made a dozen starts there, striking out very few hitters but holding opponents to a .241 average and, obviously, not many runs.  The Pirates promoted him to Altoona after his first June start and things began badly there.  In his first two starts, he allowed 19 hits, six walks and 15 earned runs in seven and a third innings.  He followed that with two good starts, then allowed 11 earned runs over six and a third innings in his next two starts.  After that, he posted a 2.47 ERA in his final ten games, which included one long relief appearance.  McRae also increased his K rate substantially from what it had been at Bradenton, although it remained low.  He did strike out 34 in his last 38.2 IP.  He had no significant platoon split.

2017
AA:  10-5-0, 3.61 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 149.2 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 5.4 K/9

Except for a pair of relief outings, McRae spent the season in the Altoona rotation.  He generally pitched decently, but remained fairly hittable.  Opponents had a line of 291/336/410 against him, compared to the league averages of 259/330/397, so he was roughly a league average pitcher with some singles substituting for walks.  He missed few bats.  Left-handed hitters put up an .814 OPS against him, right-handed hitters .671.

2018
AAA:  3-10-1, 4.77 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 117.0 IP, 3.8 BB/9, 8.0 K/9
MLB:  0-1-0, 5.68 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, 6.1 IP, 7.1 BB/9, 7.1 K/9

McRae opened the season in the Indianapolis rotation.  He didn’t pitch well there, but when the Pirates’ pitching staff was in a shambles in early July, they called McRae up.  He didn’t pitch for them at that point, but they called him up again in late July and he got into two games.  One was an extra-inning game, which he lost, when the Pirates were still in the playoff race.  McRae went back to AAA for most of August and was not called up in September.  For the season in AAA, he did greatly increase his K rate, but he got hit hard, with opponents putting up a line of 296/376/427.  He had a reverse platoon split, with right-handed hitters putting up an OPS of .875 and left-handed hitters .726.

2019
AAA:  7-8-0, 5.20 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 114.1 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 8.0 K/9
MLB:  0-4-0, 8.78 ERA, 1.95 WHIP, 26.2 IP, 5.4 BB/9, 6.4 K/9

The Pirates designated McRae for assignment after signing Lonnie Chisenhall.  He cleared waivers and opened the season at Indianapolis.  With the Pirates’ pitching staff in a meltdown, though, they called McRae up in late May for several weeks, then again briefly in late July.  They also brought him up in September.  McRae didn’t pitch well in AAA, allowing opponents to bat .286 and giving up better than a home run every six innings.  Offense in AAA exploded due to a livelier ball in 2019, but McRae’s ERA was still slightly worse than the league average.  In the majors he simply got torched.  Opponents batted 319/417/611 against him, with a homer every three innings.

The Pirates’ continued reliance on McRae as a significant depth piece provides striking evidence of their failure to develop pitching talent.  Not surprisingly, they removed him from the roster in the off-season.