In his weekly pow wow with reporters on Sunday, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said struggling starter James McDonald will remain in the team's rotation, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Bill Brink.
↵↵↵"We see [McDonald] as a very good starting pitcher for us for years to come and are trying to find the best way to get him back on track," Huntington said.
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McDonald hasn't been pitching well since the middle of July. He has allowed four earned runs or more in five of his past six starts and his ERA has swelled from 2.37 to 3.77 in that span. His control has been an issue, too. He's walked at least three batters in four of his last six starts, including a whopping seven in a 9-5 loss against the Astros on July 29. He has improved in that department over his last couple of starts, though, walking just one in each, so perhaps a turnaround is closer than it appears.
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