Tracy McGrady is Officially a Professional Pitcher

Nov 7, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets former player

cheers against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

Tracy McGrady made his debut for the Sugar Land Skeeters on Saturday, and it was not pretty. I am not just talking about his pitching mechanics, which are vastly different from pitch to pitch, but in his outing as a whole.

He had some success, as he only gave up two hits while facing nine batters. three of the five outs he recorded were on routine ground balls to short, along with a fly ball out to both center and right. He also walked two, allowed an RBI single, and a solo home run off the foul pole.

McGrady walked two batters and threw a wild pitch, but you could tell it had been a long time since he had played competitive baseball. His motion to the plate with runners on is painfully slow, and it is a shock there was only one stolen base against him among the three base runners. When he through the wild pitch, there was a runner on second who easily took third and rounded the bag with real thoughts of taking home as McGrady didn’t even bother to cover the plate.

As if that was not enough of a mental error, with a runner on second and two outs, McGrady pitched from the windup. The runner on second had just stolen a bag very easily but didn’t bother taking another easy bag on the pitch, which wound up being his final as it led to a flyball out to center.

Two hits, two runs, two walks, and no strikeouts in less than two innings is certainly not what McGrady was hoping for in his first outing, but it appears he will get more chances, and it is certainly interesting to watch.