Scott McGough finished the season on Sunday, playing on a last-place team calling a minor-league ballpark its home.

Yet, nobody in baseball might have been happier than the Plum High School graduate. The 35-year-old Athletics reliever was still in the major leagues, even with a team that finished in the basement of the American League West and concluded the first of what is to be three seasons at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif.

“It’s the game I love,” McGough said recently when the Athletics visited the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game series at PNC Park. “It’s the game I grew up playing here in Pittsburgh. Getting to play in high school here at PNC Park and getting to be here as a major leaguer are the moments that you cherish and why you keep playing. I really enjoy baseball and feel very blessed to be still playing.”

McGough’s professional career has been a remarkable journey, beginning when the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft from Oregon State. The Pirates drafted McGough in the 46th round three years earlier as a high school senior, but he opted to go to college.

In 2012, his full professional season, McGough was part of a high-profile trade. The Dodgers sent him and fellow right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to the Miami Marlins for three-time All-Star infielder Hanley Ramirez and long-time left-handed reliever Randy Choate.

McGough reached the major leagues in 2015 with the Marlins and appeared in six games as a reliever. He did not pitch again in the big league until 2023 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A lot happened during that eight-year gap.

McGough was claimed off waivers by Baltimore in 2016 and spent two years in the Orioles’ farm system before being released. He pitched in the Colorado Rockies’ organization in 2018, then made a wise decision by playing winter ball in the Mexican Pacific League during the 2018-19 offseason.

A scout from the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball watched McGough pitch in Mexico. The Swallows signed McGough, and he spent four seasons with them from 2019-22, notching 31 saves in 2021 and 38 in 2022.

McGough’s star turn in Japan led him back to the United States and MLB when the Diamondbacks signed him to a two-year, $6.25-million contract that included an option for this season. Though the Diamondbacks declined McGough’s option, they signed him to a minor-league deal, and he split this season between the major leagues and Triple-A Reno.

The Diamondbacks released McGough on June 10, and he signed four days later with the Athletics, who assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Oddly enough, he then made five relief appearances in September for the Athletics, who are playing in Yolo County while the franchise transitions from Oakland to Las Vegas, with a ballpark scheduled to open in 2028.

“There was a time when it didn’t seem like playing baseball was going to be an option for me much longer,” McGough said. “Going to Mexico gave me a new life in baseball.”

McGough then smiled.

“And here I am,” he said.

Indeed, he is.

“He’s a pro. That’s really the word I use to describe when someone comes in and is willing to do whatever the team needs,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s just a pure joy to give an opportunity to someone like Scott. I’ve talked to a lot of guys who ended their careers, and the game isn’t always kind to them. It doesn’t often allow you to determine when you want to be done.

“That’s what I admire so much about Scott, he’s 35 and still willing to go to Triple-A to pursue his dreams. Now he is back in the big leagues, which is a testament to his perseverance.”

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