PITTSBURGH – Easy there, Sluggo. Let's not get carried away by what James McDonald accomplished in his debut on Thursday night. Which is to say, become the first Pirates pitcher to allow no runs and strike out at least eight batters in his first game since Nick Maddox nearly 103 years ago, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

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 buzzes at least three times that many batters, anyway.

Does the name Mike Dunne ring a bell?

In 1987, at 24 years of age, the 6-foot-4 right-hander won three of the first four starts in his Pirates career, all of them on the road. Three were complete games. He went on to win 13 games and finish second in the Rookie of the Year vote that season. Then he won 12 games the rest of his career.

Based on one game, McDonald doesn't appear to be a Dunne deal certainly.

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 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 athlete and takes pride in what he does,” manager John Russell said. “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.”

"I've seen both sides of James – hitting against him and catching him," batterymate Chris Snyder told me after the game. "I've seen when things have gone bad for him. I've also seen him have nights like this. For him to set the tone like this in his first game, that had to build confidence for him. His next start will be in San Diego, which has a great park to pitch in and a team that he has faced before. He'll have to some confidence the next time out."

Now let's give the kid a chance to show his stuff.