New Reliever Scott McGough “Excited” to Help Athletics Any Way He Can
ST. LOUIS (Sept 1) — When the rosters expanded Monday, the Athletics added Max Schuemann as their 14th position player and right-handed reliever Scott McGough as the 14th pitcher. This is McGough’s first trip back to the majors since the Arizona Diamondbacks optioned him to Triple-A on June 1. For McGough, returning to the majors is “incredible.” He added, “This is where you want to be. This is why you play the game. I’m super pumped to be here.”
Manager Mark Kotsay said prior to Monday’s game, an 11–3 victory over the Cardinals, that he would have “no worry about bringing him in in a big situation.” Kotsay, who met McGough that morning, added, “He’s been here, he’s done it, he’s a professional.”
Scott McGough the Sage
Kotsay wasn’t kidding. McGough has pitched in the minors, Mexico, Japan, and the majors since being drafted out of the University of Oregon. He has been in the minor league systems of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, and Colorado Rockies in addition to the Diamondbacks and Athletics. McGough was part of the Hanley Ramirez trade in 2012 and was on the 2023 National League champion Diamondbacks, though he did not get to pitch in the postseason due to injury.
Due to his experience, the 35-year-old McGough has had the role of the sage while on the relief corps of both the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators and now the Athletics, especially given the number of young, inexperienced relievers. “That’s really what I see now, me gravitating towards the younger guys,” McGough said after the Athletics took batting practice. “I was just talking to a few of them about their last couple of outings. (Mason) Barnett’s first start, stuff like that. Talking about the jitters and the things coaches will say after. What’s good, what’s not good. All about the routines, staying in your routine. Doing the things that made you really good to get to this point, and don’t change much.”
“Don’t change much” was advice a star pitcher gave to McGough while he was in the farm system for the Dodgers. In fact, McGough called it some of the best he ever received from said star. That pitcher? The most recent member of the 3000 Strikeout Club, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw spoke to a group of up-and-comers in the Dodgers system. McGough remembered Kershaw telling them, “You guys are here for a reason. Listen to the coaches, but something made you get here. Stick with it. Fine-tune the details and stick with it.”
Gleaning Lessons from Everywhere
McGough didn’t only take lessons from Kershaw and the other Dodgers. He grew as a pitcher everywhere he went because he worked with and around so many different personalities. And his teammates everywhere loved him. This reporter can attest to how much McGough’s Diamondbacks teammates loved him, and the same is true with McGough’s Athletics teammates. As he arrived in the clubhouse at Busch Stadium, the pitchers who pitched with him in Las Vegas were all thrilled to see him — McGough received hug after hug.
Relief units tend to be close-knit due to the amount of time they spend around each other. But while with the Diamondbacks on their path to the World Series, McGough said they had a “magical run” due to them being exceptionally close. “Everyone was feeding off each other, and sometimes that’s not always the case with every team. So I always try to — whether it’s in Triple-A or the big leagues, whatever team I’m with — bring guys together and build that camaraderie, because that translates on the field to outs and wins.”
Recovering from a Disheartening Loss
The Diamondbacks fell to the Texas Rangers in five games in the 2023 World Series. One of those losses — Game One — was a gut-punch. The Rangers tied the game on a two-run Corey Seager home run in the bottom of the ninth off closer Paul Sewald and won on an Adolis Garcia homer in the eleventh off Miguel Castro. Seeing the way Sewald dealt with the loss “on the biggest stage” spoke to McGough. “I was very impressed with (Paul),” he recalled. “But that’s his mature approach to the game. I took some things away from that, because we always want to do well. When you don’t, you’re upset about it, but it’s how fast you can turn it over to the next page. So I took that from that Game One experience, being there and seeing it.”
Moving to a New Organization
Though his time in Arizona did not end in the greatest manner, Scott McGough appreciates everything the Diamondbacks did for him. “(General manager) Mike Hazen is an awesome guy,” he smiled. “We had a great relationship. He was very honest with me. In this game, that’s all you can ask for as a player — that your bosses are honest with you. He never lied to me. Always shot me straight.” McGough said he’ll always be grateful for Hazen’s honesty as well as everything he learned with the Diamondbacks and the good he got to do there with the team.
More than one team contacted McGough to come join them after his release by the Diamondbacks, something that felt good to him during a time a lot of people wouldn’t feel very good. McGough said it was “cool” to see people still wanted him and that he got to pick which team he would join. What attracted him to the Athletics was something fans might not initially expect. “I knew I was going to Triple-A,” he confessed. “I knew Vegas was a good team — I faced them earlier in the year, when I was in Reno. Knew some of their coaching staff from before. I had the bullpen coach back in the (Arizona) Fall League. So I felt it was a good spot and the best fit for me.”
McGough said that getting called up Monday confirmed that he had made the right decision. And he’s eager to contribute. “I’m excited to help the team any way I can.”
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