{"id":192786,"date":"2026-02-25T08:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/192786\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T08:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:43:53","slug":"trevor-mcdonald-brings-heat-strikes-out-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/192786\/","title":{"rendered":"Trevor McDonald brings heat, strikes out two"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Carson Whisenhunt<\/a> isn\u2019t the only young starter who\u2019s lighting up the Scottsdale Stadium radar gun.<\/p>\n

Following a promising showing<\/a> leading up to Cactus League play, right-hander Trevor McDonald continued to impress as the Giants beat the Athletics 6-2 on Monday afternoon in Scottsdale. McDonald not only pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts \u2014 one swinging, one looking \u2014 but averaged 95.2 mph on his sinker and touched as high as 97.2 mph.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the tank,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cIf you look back a couple of years ago in the minor leagues, I was there. I\u2019ve just been a lot more intentional about my sleep, my recovery, what I put into my body this offseason. I felt really good coming into camp, so I think that\u2019s just all that showing on the field. \u2026 I feel good and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to be there again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, McDonald had an average sinker velocity of 93.1 mph over 142 1\/3 innings with Triple-A Sacramento. The 24-year-old refined his routine this offseason, prioritizing his sleep and diet. He put on some \u201chealthy weight\u201d and is up to 210 pounds after weighing in at 195 pounds last spring. McDonald tried the carnivore diet like teammate Adrian Houser, but conceded that he\u2019s \u201cnot as strict to it as he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 rotation is currently filled by Houser, Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Landen Roupp and Tyler Mahle, but Vitello described San Francisco\u2019s bullpen competition as being \u201cwide open.\u201d With few definitive locks in the \u2018pen, one of San Francisco\u2019s young starters should have a shot to win a spot on the Opening Day out of camp as a reliever.<\/p>\n

McDonald had a 5.31 ERA with Triple-A Sacramento in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and didn\u2019t make his season debut with San Francisco until mid-September. Upon arriving, McDonald impressed during his brief time with the team, posting a 1.80 ERA (three earned runs, 15 innings) over three appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something, coming into this spring, makes you hungry to get back up there,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a boost of confidence and it was an encouraging end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whisenhunt, 25, showcased his own notable jump in velocity during last Thursday\u2019s simulated game. The left-hander had an average fastball velocity of 92.6 mph during his brief time in San Francisco last season, but he sat in the 95-96 mph range and occasionally touched 97 mph last week.<\/p>\n

Right-hander Blade Tidwell, 24, also made a strong impression during his first outing Saturday against Seattle, striking out three batters during his scoreless innings.<\/p>\n

While McDonald, Tidwell and Whisenhunt have all looked sharp, 24-year-old right-hander Hayden Birdsong stumbled in his Cactus League debut. Birdsong retired only one of the six batters he faced on Saturday, walking two batters, allowing three hits and giving up five runs (four on a grand slam).<\/p>\n

Mahle throws live bullpen<\/p>\n

Mahle threw a live bullpen on a backfield at Scottsdale Stadium before Monday\u2019s game against the Athletics.<\/p>\n

Mahle, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Giants this offseason, faced six batters, threw 27 pitches and induced four whiffs. The right-hander struck out two batters \u2014 one swinging, one looking. The right-hander was set back a couple of days due to feeling under the weather.<\/p>\n

It has yet to be determined whether Mahle will need another live bullpen before appearing in Cactus League games.<\/p>\n

Honeywell signs minor-league deal<\/p>\n

Brent Honeywell Jr., who won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, signed a minor-league contract with the Giants. The deal does not include an invitation to spring training.<\/p>\n

Honeywell, who turns 31 in March, was non-tendered by the Dodgers following the \u201824 season. The right-hander has a career 4.10 ERA and 5.26 FIP over 94 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez makes cameo at second base<\/p>\n

Catcher Jesus Rodriguez bounced around the diamond during his time in the New York Yankees\u2019 system, and the Giants called on Rodriguez to provide some versatility on Monday by having him play a couple of innings at second base.<\/p>\n

Along with catching, the 23-year-old Rodriguez has spent time at first base (57 games), second base (three games), third base (97 games) and left field (24 games) during his time in the minors. The Yankees\u2019 farm system had several catching prospects during Rodriguez\u2019s time in their system, and he often played around the diamond to get his bat in the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for any excuse possible or any reason possible to get Rodriguez (in the game),\u201d Vitello said. \u201cHe\u2019s a ballplayer. You should see his eyes light up when you talk to him about moving around or going to left field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webb lined up to pitch Team USA\u2019s pool play opener<\/p>\n

The Giants\u2019 two-time All-Star Webb will make his first appearance of Cactus League play on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels.<\/p>\n

Webb will make a couple of appearances for the Giants before joining Team USA for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. If Webb maintains his usual schedule, he would be in line to pitch Team USA\u2019s first game of pool play against Brazil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Carson Whisenhunt isn\u2019t the only young starter who\u2019s lighting up the Scottsdale Stadium radar gun.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2135,184,7,23726,402,1533,181,1334,395,182,101,396,4820,103,102,104,106,105,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-192786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-giants-hq","12":"tag-inside-sports","13":"tag-keywee","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-peninsula","17":"tag-pm-report","18":"tag-san-francisco","19":"tag-san-francisco-county","20":"tag-san-francisco-giants","21":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","22":"tag-san-francisco-news","23":"tag-sf","24":"tag-sf-headlines","25":"tag-sf-news","26":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}