Catcher Peter McClure went in to spring training determined to win a job on the major league roster but considering he had options available, he was set to begin the season in AAA and was sent to DOC on the very last set of moves. Birmingham was anticipation calling McClure up in June. Well, McClure spent all of a week down on the farm before he was called up to begin his major league career.
"When you are trying to determine your roster for the season, guys with options left give us an advantage. It allows us to keep a veteran on the roster and see if his experience can be helpful to the team". GM Mike Calvaruso stated on his radio address. "You could see Peter's talent just oozing out all during the spring and knew he would be called up at some time this season, we were just hoping not to start his clock to soon". "But in the long run, a talent such as "PMac" can be far more important to this club in both the near and long term so it was decided that he needed to be here".
The 24 year old from Fort Branch, IN is expected to be a superior offensive threat, but has been somewhat shaky as a receiver. Expect McClure to see time at both 1B and DH in the hopes of keeping his bat in the lineup.
Bandit Mgr Todd Willette was quick to insert McClure into the lineup at 1B and said before the Carolina series "He is going to get force fed somewhat since he hasn't played 1B since high school, but Peter is very athletic and we are quite certain that, while there will be some rough games early, he will settle down and help this club win some games".
McClure did have some adventures at 1B in his first week on the job committing 5 errors in 9 games so that will something to keep an eye on. In 34 AB's so far McClure is batting .235 with 7 Runs, 4 RBI's and a HR.
In a corresponding move, veteran 1B Alex Middleton was waived to make room for McClure. Middleton was given plenty of chances to claim the 1B job for himself but never really seemed to put his talent to good use. A marginal prospect, Middleton could easily be back in Birmingham later this year should injuries crop up.
The addition of McClure gives the Bandits the potential for an extremely potent offensive club. Let's hope the pitching staff can hold their own until Mario Pagan can return from the DL.
