Amateur After graduating from
Denham Springs High School, McDonald was the 670th selection in the 27th round by the
Atlanta Braves in the
1986 MLB draft. He elected not to sign despite the Braves' $75,000 offer ($218,350 in 2025) which at the time was given to second-round draftees. He felt he was not ready for professional baseball and that he wanted to matriculate at
Louisiana State University (LSU) instead. McDonald played two sports at LSU. He was a reserve forward with the
Tigers basketball team, appearing in 32 games with five starts as a
freshman before his playing time diminished to six games exclusively off the bench during his
sophomore year. McDonald led the 1988
US Olympic Team to a
gold medal for baseball, winning complete games against host
South Korea and
Puerto Rico. During his three-year college career at LSU, McDonald twice helped his team reach the
College World Series. He gave up a walk-off grand slam to Stanford's Paul Carey in the 1987 series. His best collegiate season came in 1989, which he finished with a 14–4 record, a 3.49
ERA, and a then-
Southeastern Conference record 202
strikeouts. That year, he was selected as a member of the
All-America team, and won the
Golden Spikes Award. In 1989, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Orleans Cardinals of the
Cape Cod Baseball League, recording one start.
Minor leagues The
Baltimore Orioles made McDonald the
first overall selection in the
1989 June draft. He is the first of two LSU Tigers to have been drafted number one, joined by
Paul Skenes in 2023. He signed with the Orioles on August 19, and on September 6, he made his major league debut. McDonald was the second member of his draft class to reach the majors, coming up three days after his Olympic teammate
John Olerud.
Baltimore Orioles In the finale of the
1989 season, McDonald tossed one scoreless inning of relief versus the American League East champion Toronto Blue Jays, logging his first career win. He became the sixth player to make the majors in the same season that he was selected as the number one overall pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. McDonald joined the Orioles' starting rotation in 1990, and in his first major league start on July 21, he threw a complete-game shutout against the
Chicago White Sox. At the end of the season, he finished eighth in
Rookie of the Year voting, with the award going to catcher
Sandy Alomar Jr. McDonald would go on to spend seven seasons with the Orioles, before leaving as a free agent in 1996 to join the
Milwaukee Brewers. He never led his league in a major category, but ranked among the top 10 at various times in categories such as complete games, wins, ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts. McDonald was the first #1 draft pick to win his first three starts in Major League history, a feat which has been equalled by
Gerrit Cole.
Milwaukee Brewers While with the Brewers, McDonald began to encounter shoulder problems, missing part of the 1997 season. He was traded to the
Cleveland Indians that offseason, in a deal that brought
Marquis Grissom and
Jeff Juden to Milwaukee in exchange for him,
Mike Fetters, and
Ron Villone. McDonald would never pitch for the Indians, though, as an operation to repair his
rotator cuff on February 26, 1998 proved unsuccessful. He was ultimately forced to retire, and the Brewers sent
Mark Watson to Cleveland to resolve their obligation in the matter. McDonald ended his career with a 78–70 record, 894 strikeouts, and a 3.91 ERA in 1,291
innings pitched. He never pitched in the postseason. In 2008, McDonald was elected to the
College Baseball Hall of Fame. ==Post-baseball career==