Meet the Sox

Mike MacDougal

ESSENTIALS

• Contract
  • 07: $1.5M, 08: $1.95M, 09: $2.65M, 10: $3.75M club option ($0.35M buyout)
• Stats
  • Baseball-Reference.com page
  • ESPN.com current stats
• Previous
  • Acquisition post
    

2006 OVERVIEW

PITCHING

Looking for bullpen help when Cliff Politte collapsed, Kenny Williams moved rather boldly to pick up Mike MacDougal from Kansas City on July 24.  He didn't necessarily pay a steep price, giving up Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes in the process, but he did give up enough to make it worth it for the Royals.

MacDougal filled the right-handed setup man almost perfectly -- at least until he underwent an MRI for his shoulder.  In fact, he outperformed the guy he was setting up, Bobby Jenks, quite handily.  Lump Jenks in with the rest of the righties the Sox threw out there, and here's how MacDougal compared:

	7/24-9/14		9/1-9/14
Pitcher	ERA	WHIP	ERA	WHIP
MacDougal	1.19	0.93	0.00	0.63
Other righties	4.73	1.48	9.19	2.36

Unfortunately, MacDougal didn't look nearly as sharp immediately following the MRI, and in his first game back, he gave up the go-ahead single in the loss that would be the first nail in the Sox's coffin.  Then again, I had the Sox's season over on Sept. 20, and MacDougal didn't give up another run all season, so I don't know how much of a difference he could've made even if he were 100 percent.

When he was healthy, Mac the Ninth became Mac Into the 10th in terms of usage.  During that dynamite stretch, he recorded four or more outs in exactly half of his 20 outings.  He had two key four-out appearances against the Tigers, both resulting in wins.  He even pitched well in defeat -- his only loss came against Minnesota, when the Twins managed to score off him without getting a ball in the air (two days later, Ozzie Guillen would rename the Twins "The Piranhas").

MacDougal dominated righties before the MRI, holding them to a .193 average over 57 at-bats while allowing zero extra-base hits.  He held his own against lefties, but nothing to write home about, either.  Here's something else to note about Mac -- he gave up 45 ground balls to only 11 flies.  Nobody came close to matching his 4.09 GB/FB rate; Bobby Jenks came closest with 2.89, although he pitched almost three times as many innings.

2007 OUTLOOK

MacDougal's success depends entirely upon his health.

*pausing to let such a keen and unique insight soak in*

Seriously, though, we pretty much know what he's capable of when healthy, and we know he can get injured rather easily.  That's how the story goes.

He does seem to have tempered his wild delivery slightly in an attempt to compensate for his health.  He no longer throws that knee-buckling uber-curve, and as a result, his strikeout rate has declined.  But because he still throws an effective slider, his ground ball rates have risen, making him a good candidate to survive at U.S. Cellular Field for the length of his new three-year contract.

As long as, you know, he stays healthy.

PROJECTIONS

Mike MacDougal	G	W-L	IP	H	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2007 ZiPS	49	4-2	51	46	5	23	48	3.71	1.36
2007 BJS	60	3-3	57	56	4	26	48	4.11	1.44
2007 JCM	55	3-4	58	51	5	22	51	3.25	1.26