Graduated from New Hampton High School in New Hampton, Iowa, in 2015 where his father Cory was also his head coach...Did not pitch his senior season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but went 2-0 with a 0.39 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 18 innings his junior year...Was rated as a Top-500 prospect nationally by Perfect Game following his senior year...Was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams at New Hampton H.S. as a senior...Holds the school's single-season records in wins (10), ERA (0.98), strikeouts (152), winning percentage (.889), shutouts (seven), batting average (.490) and stolen bases (26)...Went undrafted out of high school...Attended the nearby University of Iowa...Went 15-10 with a 4.12 ERA (97ER/211.2IP) with 203 strikeouts in 45 starts during four years with the Hawkeyes...Finished his career fifth in program history in strikeouts...Was Iowa's Friday night starter his senior year, going 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 15 starts...Was rated as the No. 13 draft prospect in the Big Ten by D1Baseball.com...Was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree in three of his four seasons...Was college teammates with RHP Nick Allgeyer, who was signed by the Astros to a Minor League deal in 2023 and spent the bulk of his season with Triple A Sugar Land...Allgeyer was Iowa's Friday night starter prior to being drafted in 2018, opening the spot for McDonald the following season...Participated with Team U.S.A in the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan...Tossed a 9.0-inning no-hitter in a victory over the Czech Republic in one of his two appearances...Faced just two batters over the minimum and needed only 97 pitches to complete the no-hitter...The World University Games are held every two years and are an international multi-sport event organized by the International University Sports Federation for college athletes...Drafted by Houston in the 15th round of the June 2019 draft...Signed by Astros scout Jim Stevenson...Received his first invite to Major League Spring Training in 2024...Is currently signed to a one-year contract for the 2024 campaign.
2023
Made the bulk of his appearances in 2023 with Double-A Corpus Christi (35 G) after beginning the year with High-A Asheville (four G)...Went a combined 2-3 with a 3.59 ERA (21ER/52.2IP), seven saves and a .224 opponent batting average...Was selected as an Astros MiLB.com Organizational All-Star...Was the first season of his Minor League career in which he was used strictly as a reliever...Ranked fifth among Astros Minor Leaguers with an average of 12.65 strikeouts-per-nine-innings (min. 50 IP) and had a strikeout in all but two of his outings on the year...Recorded 11 straight scoreless innings to close out the season, striking out 14 batters over that stretch...Led Corpus Christi and was tied for seventh in the Texas League with seven saves...The 39 total appearances and seven saves marked his Minor League career highs.
