Right-handed Giants pitcher Trevor McDonald has only 25 innings of MLB experience, but the 25-year-old has made the most of that small sample size.

McDonald’s only MLB appearance of the 2026 season — a seven-inning outing against the San Diego Padres last Monday — helped him make MLB history.

Of McDonald’s five career appearances, three have been starts, and in those three starts, he has 21 strikeouts, allowed one walk and two earned runs in 20 innings.

Per OptaStats, McDonald joins Los Angeles Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela as the only pitchers since 1913 to record 20-plus more strikeouts than walks, along with two or fewer earned runs in their first three MLB starts.

It’s a fitting stat considering McDonald will toe the rubber on Monday night at Dodger Stadium when the Giants open a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In McDonald’s one outing this season, he allowed just two hits and one earned run while striking out eight Padres batters over seven innings, helping the Giants snap a six-game losing streak.

Selected by the Giants in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, McDonald earned brief cameo appearances over the last two seasons. He has a 1.44 career ERA and 23 strikeouts in 25 innings.

With ace Logan Webb landing on the injured list for the first time in five years due to right knee bursitis, the Giants need more production from the rest of the rotation, and McDonald will get a chance to show what he can do over an extended stretch.

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