Reggie Mcclain one year ago was driving Ubers in Arizona while he was waiting for a spot on the mariners. This spring training he will get his chance as he tries to stay in the bullpen for the phillies.
Last season reggie had an Era of 6 in just 14 games. Does his Era really show who he is though? The answer is no. Reggie against the astros alone has had an Era of 24.75 but against every other team it’s only a 1.59. With the recent scandals with the Astros it can only cause one question . Has the cheating of the Astros ruined his MLB career? He has proved him self every single time he has had a pitching change except against the Astros , Who once again got caught sign stealing .
Going into the 2019 season Reggie knew he had to preform well or his career and dreams could be over . This weekend one a drive from Phoinex to Atlanta he said “My back is against the wall.” He is only 26 years old and has lots of potential in him. For the Modesto Nuts he started 64 times with an Era of 4.8 which can be compared to an average MLB pitcher. Reggie then became introduced to the bullpen which released a lot of his assets he was unaware of.
McClain dominated the same California League that had previously been a challenge, allowing one run in 16 innings with 18 strikeouts and just one walk. He was promoted to Double A and his success continued. At those two levels, he had a combined 0.85 ERA in 31⅔ innings when he was called up to Triple A to pitch in the Pacific Coast League. The PCL is a notoriously difficult league for pitchers because of the high altitudes of stadiums and the hot conditions during the summer. Last season, the PCL was even more of a joke because it used the same juiced baseball as MLB. There were 3,312 home runs in the PCL in 2019 compared to 2,097 in 2018. Yet McClain was still effective, posting a 3.29 ERA in 41 innings and allowing just three home runs. Still, he noticed the difference in the baseballs, particularly from Double A to Triple A. At Double A, he recalled, he could throw a hard fastball down the middle and live to tell about it. That wasn’t the case in the PCL.
He has tons of potential for the team and has something to play for and fight for . The teams needs relievers and he needs the team and hopefully he will be a big piece in our bullpen this season .
Philadelphia Sports Chronicle 