Hard-Working McPherson in Control With Marauders

If four-plus seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization have taught Kyle McPherson anything, it has been keeping ups and downs — from a demotion to short-season Class-A ball two years ago to his recent success — all in perspective.

McPherson once again solidified his status as member of the parent club’s 40-man roster and the ace of the 2011 Bradenton Marauders this past Saturday night. Outdueling his Clearwater Threshers’ counterpart, Julio Rodriguez, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound righty allowed five hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out four over the first six innings of an eventual 6-2 Bradenton victory.

The performance marked the sixth straight time that McPherson (3-1) has given his team at least six innings. It was his second straight quality-start win and fourth quality start in his last six appearances.

"Going out there against a good team with a good record and a good pitching staff, I knew that I had to do the best I could to keep our team in the ballgame as long as possible and try to put together a quality start to come out on top," McPherson said after the game.

Some facts were not included in McPherson’s line from Saturday night.

The 23-year-old Alabama native induced first-pitch groundball double plays after hitting Brad Gump in the second inning and giving up a single to Kyle Lafrenz in the third inning. A two-out walk in the top of the fourth to Jonathan Singleton was McPherson’s second in 48 2/3 innings, which have included 42 strikeouts.

"Being aggressive early in the count as well as being aggressive late and not backing down from the hitters," McPherson said. "It’s a mentality. I’m going to throw the ball over the plate, and I’m going to move it in and out. So far, it has worked to my success to get quick outs."

That mentality was first instilled in McPherson after he was drafted by the Pirates in the 14^th round of the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft and sent to the organization’s Bradenton-based Gulf Coast League affiliate.

"From rookie-ball level on in this organization, we’re going to be fastball dominant," McPherson said. "Like I said, we’re not going to back down and we’re going to be aggressive. Having that mentality goes a long way. Our entire pitching staff has that mentality to go out there and battle."

McPherson was 5-2 with an ERA of 4.94 in 13 appearances for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League before being sent down for his third stint with the State College (Pa.) Spikes of the New York-Penn League in the summer of 2009. It was in State College, where current Marauders pitching coach Mike Steele first worked with McPherson.

"He’s just really competitive," Steele said. "We did some things with his delivery last year and that have helped him out. He’s really stuck to them. He’s got weapons with a change-up, curveball and he can throw his fastball any time he wants."

Starting the 2010 season at West Virginia, McPherson had nine games with seven or more strikeouts and compiled a record of 9-9 in 21 starts — numbers good enough to earn him a promotion to Bradenton late in the season and put him on the radar of Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington and other club brass.

Fearing that it would lose McPherson in the Rule 5 Draft, Pittsburgh placed him on its 40-man roster last fall and brought him to big-league spring training in February. Added pressure that he compensates for by doing all he can do to be mentally and physically prepared for his next outing.

"He’s a grounded kid with a very strong faith,” Steele said. “I think that helps him have a perspective of what he does every day. He’s a kid who can learn from his mistakes during a game and correct them there. (On Sunday), we’ll come in, talk about the game and set up the bullpen (session) for the day after that. He’ll go in the bullpen and work on the things that he knows he needs to do.

"The biggest problem you see is guys overcompensating, and he doesn’t because he trusts what he does because of how hard he works."