New team, new start, new attitude. A new Darnell McDonald is on a path he hopes will lead to playing major-league baseball.
If not with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the former Cherry Creek High School star hopes the numbers he’s putting up with the Durham Bulls will gain the attention of another organization that would want his signature on a contract.
McDonald, who has played every outfield position for the Bulls, is hitting .303 with 11 home runs and 25 RBIs in 41 games since the Devil Rays signed him June 13 as a free agent. It is a new start for McDonald after a messy spring in the Cleveland Indians’ organization, when he was suspended for testing positive for evidence of steroid use under baseball’s new drug policy.
“I guess you can call that a learning lesson,” McDonald said. “I’ve moved on. I hope people who know me realize I wasn’t sitting around sticking needles into my rear end.
“You can test positive from things you can get over the counter.”
His new start has impressed Bulls manager Bill Evers and hitting coach Richie Hebner. Both have taken note of McDonald’s athletic prowess.
“His power numbers are up with us, and I think that comes from playing experience,” Hebner said. “You look for the better pitches to hit. He has played a good center field for us.”
Said Evers: “He has swung the bat very well for us. As long as you have a uniform on, you have a chance to make it to the big leagues.”
McDonald is thankful for a new start in more ways than one. He wants to leave the problems of the spring behind, and he’s doing it with an abundance of playing time.
“It’s working out well for me, and I’m getting the opportunity to play every day,” McDonald said. “I wasn’t playing every day in the Indians’ organization. It’s easy to take playing time for granted, but when it’s not there, it opens up your eyes.”
At 26, McDonald doesn’t think he’s running out of time. He was a Baltimore Orioles first-round draft pick in June 1997, the 26th player taken overall. He progressed through the Orioles’ farm system and played 17 big-league games in 2004 before moving to the Indians this year.
“The good thing about this game is that there’s still time if you don’t make it to the big leagues in four or five years,” McDonald said. “I had a couple of shoulder surgeries while in the Baltimore organization, and they set me back. I think they rushed me back a little too soon. I was coming off a good year when I had one of the surgeries.”
McDonald is one of many players to come out of coach Marc Johnson’s Cherry Creek program. Darnell’s brother, Donzell McDonald, was drafted in the 22nd round in the 1995 June draft by the New York Yankees, but is playing in Mexico.
“(Darnell McDonald) is the best high school player that came out of our high school,” Johnson said. “He was a good runner with strong power. He’s taken off since he got with Tampa Bay. He needs a break, somebody to give him a chance. If he gets a chance, who knows.”
Darnell McDonald makes his offseason home in Phoenix. But one of his goals is to return someday for a baseball season home with the Rockies.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
