Where Are They Now: Mark McLemore

TROY, N.Y.---Mark McLemore was selected in the fourth round of the June 2002 draft by the Houston Astros and began his professional baseball career with the ValleyCats that summer. The following year, the left-handed throwing McLemore was promoted to Single A Lexington where he appeared in 36 games and finished third on the team with 101 strikeouts.

McLemore continued to rise through the minor leagues, making stops at Salem, Corpus Christi and Round Rock during the 2004-06 seasons. In 2004, he began the season as a reliever for the Salem Avalanche and allowed just 10 earned runs in 23 relief appearances in that role. McLemore spent the 2005 season with Double A Corpus Christi and was named a Texas League All-Star. McLemore continued to rise us the Astros organizational ladder in 2006 when he was promoted to Triple A Round Rock, posting a 2.81 ERA in 57.2 innings.

McLemore made his major league debut with the Astros on May 24, 2007 and pitched one scoreless inning and struck out two. Following his debut, McLemore was sent back to Triple A Round Rock, but was recalled a few weeks later and appeared for the Astros on June 29. On July 26, McLemore was called up to the Astros for Triple A for a third and final time in 2007 and spent the remainder of the season with the Astros.

McLemore recorded his first major league win on August 2 against the Atlanta Braves and nailed down his second win ten days later against the Brewers. McLemore finished his rookie season 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA, the lowest for an Astros rookie left-hander since 2003.