All athletes dream of the day they’ll step on the field at a professional stadium.

They put in countless hours of work, sacrifice time with friends and family and do whatever it takes to make their dreams become a reality.

On June 29 last year, Blackhawk graduate and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Brendan McKay accomplished his dream when he stepped onto the mound at Tropicana Field to face the Houston Astros in his major league debut. But, before he got to Tampa, he had to give his parents a quick call.

“The day I got called up, I was supposed to pitch the next day on a road trip in Triple-A, and most of my family was going to be coming to the game,” McKay said. “So, I had to hurry up and call them that night. I was pretty much like ‘Hey, you might not want to go to Toledo, you might want to book flights to Tampa if you want to come down to see it.’

“They had to divert their plans — for good reasons, though.”

With several family and friends in attendance, the 23-year-old left-hander dazzled by allowing only one hit in six innings, striking out three and walking one to earn a win against the powerful Astros.

The performance was special, but in the moment, McKay said he was just trying to do what he always has done.

“I was in a whole other world,” said McKay, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft out of Louisville, where he won the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur baseball player in the country.

“I wasn’t really thinking about anything, which is good at that moment because you’re not really trying to think about anything. It’s kind of right where you want to be. You don’t really want to be thinking about anything. You kind of just want to go out and do it.”

McKay finished last season 2-4 with a 5.14 ERA in 49 innings while getting acclimated to life at the big league level. One significant adjustment was McKay was used almost exclusively as a pitcher after being a two-way player in high school, college and the minors. With Tampa, he got 10 at-bats, recording two hits, including a homer.

In 462 at-bats over three minor league seasons, McKay hit .214 with 15 homers and 80 RBIs. So while his at-bats decreased in the majors, McKay still stayed ready.

“I was still trying to go up in the cage during the game to get some swings in,” McKay said. “I just wanted to be prepared if there was a chance to pinch hit or something like that. I wanted to stay locked in to the game and stay active, versus just fully falling into that pitcher routine where you make your start, then you get all of your stuff done in between your starts.”

With his rookie year complete, McKay was excited to get back to spring training and continue to prove he belonged at the big league level. Even though it was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic, he still made the most of it.

“It’s just exciting to be around those guys and getting to put yourself in a position to make a case for why you could be with the team,” McKay said. “Any little thing you can learn from there is a great experience, and you learn a lot from guys that are there. You get to have the experience of being with those guys and seeing what they do and how they do it so well all the time.”

The 6-foot-2, 212-pound McKay has tried to stay busy during his downtime in Tampa Bay. He bought a net he can throw and hit into, but mostly he has been trying to keep it simple until a return date becomes clearer.

“It’s just simple stuff to kind of keep going so you’re not burning yourself out when there’s no sight to when the season is going to start,” McKay said.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)