MLB / Players

Ben McDonald

HandednessBats Right · Throws Right

Listed at6 ft 7 in · 212 lb

BornNovember 24, 1967 · Baton Rouge, LA, USA

MLB debutSeptember 6, 1989

Final gameJuly 16, 1997

Seasons9 (1989–1997)

Baltimore Orioles 1989–1995; Milwaukee Brewers 1996–1997

Percentile snapshot

1996 season — qualified pitchers

65.4

34.6

51.9

28.4

SHO

228

28.4

50.6

53.1

146

54.3

38.3

221.3

67.9

ERA

3.90

61.7

WHIP

1.333

60.5

K/9

5.94

34.6

FIP

4.39

49.4

FIP-

85.5

76.5

ERA+

131.5

82.7

sWAR

4.9

85.2

of 82 qualified 1996 pitchers (min 162 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

ERA+

114.2

sWAR

20.3

93.7

ERA+ measured against qualified careers (1,000+ IP), 1,334 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1989	6	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	-0.3
1990	21	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.1
1991	21	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.1
1992	35	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5
1993	34	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.7
1994	24	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.0
1995	14	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.2
1996	35	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.9
1997	21	1	1	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-123.7	-100.0	.000	2.1

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1989	6	0	1	0	0	0	8	7	4	3	2	7.3	8.59	1.636	3.68	7.21	189.5	44.3	-0.3
1990	21	15	8	5	3	2	88	32	35	65	9	118.7	2.43	1.037	4.93	3.58	93.4	158.1	3.1
1991	21	21	6	8	1	0	126	68	43	85	16	126.3	4.84	1.338	6.06	4.26	105.9	83.0	0.1
1992	35	35	13	13	4	2	213	107	74	158	32	227.0	4.24	1.264	6.26	4.33	109.5	93.2	1.5
1993	34	34	13	14	7	1	185	83	86	171	17	220.3	3.39	1.230	6.98	3.69	83.3	130.7	4.7
1994	24	24	14	7	5	1	151	71	54	94	14	157.3	4.06	1.303	5.38	4.23	85.4	121.8	3.0
1995	14	13	3	6	1	0	67	37	38	62	10	80.0	4.16	1.313	6.98	4.75	101.0	113.0	1.2
1996	35	35	12	10	2	0	228	96	67	146	25	221.3	3.90	1.333	5.94	4.39	85.5	131.5	4.9
1997	21	21	8	7	1	0	120	60	36	110	13	133.0	4.06	1.173	7.44	3.69	80.1	113.3	2.1

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

211

RBI

.0000

OBP

.0000

SLG

.0000

OPS

.0000

Pitching

G (P)

211

198

SHO

1,291

SO (P)

894

BB allowed

437

ERA

3.910

WHIP

1.2568

364th-lowest career WHIP

K/9

6.23

329th-highest career K/9

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	TB
1997-07-02	MIL @ CIN Gameday	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Pitching

Date	Game	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1997-06-16	STL @ MIL Gameday	8.0	4	0	0	1	12
1997-05-26	MIL @ BOS Gameday	7.1	4	1	1	1	11
1993-09-01	BAL @ LAA Gameday	9.0	4	1	1	2	10
1996-09-17	TOR @ MIL Gameday	8.0	3	0	0	1	10
1992-04-09	CLE @ BAL Gameday	9.0	2	0	0	1	9

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.