PITTSBURGH – Easy there. Let's not get carried away by what James McDonald accomplished in his Pirates debut on Thursday night. Which is to say, pitch six dominant innings, something that no other Pirates starter had done in more than four months.

No, McDonald is not the next Don Drysdale even if he does stand 6-foot-5, pitches right-handed and is a SoCal guy. Not until he wins a couple hundred games and knocks down at least three times that many batters, anyway.

Remember Mike Dunne?

In 1987, at 24 years of age, the 6-foot-4 right-hander won three of his first four starts, all of them on the road. Three were complete games. He won 13 games that season – and 12 the rest of his career.

That being said, there was a whole lot to like about young McDonald the other night.

What struck me was how polished he was for someone that had started only five games in his major league career. He had command of three pitches. His change-up measured 9.8 on the Tim Lincecum scale. He threw strike one consistently. He was quick to cover first base on balls hit to the right side. He took some good hacks at the plate.

“He's a good athletic and takes pride in what he does,” manager John Russell said before the game on Friday night. “He pays attention. He wants to be a good player and a good pitcher. He wants to be a part of the game. It's a good thing to see, because he's accomplished in a lot of things.”

Let's see how many of those things that McDonald can do well against the Padres in San Diego next week.