James McDonald almost, but not quite, can touch his thumb and middle finger when he wraps those long digits around a baseball.

Oh, basketball fingers?

"No, those are pitching fingers," said the 6-foot-4 McDonald. The newest member of the Pirates rotation certainly has flashed those fingers already. He is 1-1 with a 3.37 ERA, 14 strikeouts and just two walks in his inaugural two starts since arriving from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Octavio Dotel trade July 31.

Such an anatomical advantage may help to explain why, besides that 95 mph fastball, McDonald can deliver effective changeups and breaking balls -- pitches that require movement and fingertip control and last-nanosecond machinations. The longer the fingers, the better the chance to impart spin. And we won't even get into the trigonometry of longer arms and shorter distances to the plate here.

"I use more of my fingers," McDonald said, showing how he holds a ball away from the meat of the hand, where many pitchers must rest a ball during delivery. "Get a better feel from it than in the back of my palm."

Delwyn Young remembers ... sort of.

"I faced him in one intrasquad [game]," he said of his days with the Dodgers, "and I want to say he struck me out.

"Then the Dodgers had me start catching. After that, I saw what his ball does. He actually was the first pitcher I caught a ball from with a batter there -- a simulated game before we played the Phillies in the [2008] playoffs."

Young contemplated the finger theory and offered: "He's got some big hands. But I don't know. I got good movement on my pitches, and I have little hands."

The credit for his sizable grip?

"I got them from my mom, really," McDonald said. "She's got some big fingers."

The last time the Pirates made in-season coaching moves, they called upon one of their roving instructors, too.

Jeff Banister of early August 2010 is the Tommy Sandt of early June 2000.

Sort of.

Whereas the ouster of bench coach Gary Varsho, whom Banister replaced, and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan were rooted in loyalty issues to manager John Russell, Sandt remembered the firings of first and third base coaches Joe Jones and Jack Lind a decade earlier being another of those baseball moves correlated with losing.

"Sometimes, they feel like they have to make a change," said Sandt, a Pirates coach for a decade under Jim Leyland and from 2000-02 under Gene Lamont and then Lloyd McClendon. Nowadays, he toils as a hitting instructor and high school volunteer coach in Portland, Ore. "I got fired before, too. You feel for the guys. Most of the time, it's not their fault. Good players make good coaches.

"Unfortunately, the Pirates haven't had much [talent] given to the coaches over the last ... 17 years. You can't throw it at the coaches for the last 17 years. Ultimately, it's the product on the field that wins and loses for you. It's sad, because the Pirates have great tradition, had great teams and great players. Haven't had it for a while. Shame to see."

For Banister, the interim thing has become a regular occurrence. In his 25 years in the Pirates' organization, he has subbed for pitching coaches or managers for games or weeks at a time, at every level. He replaced a promoted manager in Class A Lynchburg in 1997. He replaced a fired Lynchburg manager in 2004. He replaced at midseason a jettisoned Lynchburg pitching coach in 2008.

"You bounce around," Banister said. "I will say that, in the field coordinator role, you don't truly feel part of that team per se, because you're there and then you're gone. So this atmosphere, walking in, being part of the team, being part of the staff ... it brings back a lot of those feelings that I love about this whole process: you're part of a team and the competitiveness of a team atmosphere."

Ray Searage, the first-year assistant pitching coach who stepped in for Kerrigan, has been a pitching coach in all but two of his 17 coaching years, when he oversaw the Florida Marlins' minor-league pitchers as their coordinator. Since 2003, he has been a pitching coach throughout the Pirates system, from short-season Class A upward.

Since arising from Class AAA Indianapolis' pitching coach this offseason, Searage primarily occupied himself with the bullpen, where the relievers raved. "He's awesome," Evan Meek said.

Now, Searage added, "I'm starting to feel comfortable hanging out with the guys. I'm trying to build a bond with the starters." They seem to be adjusting as well to Searage, who encourages them to follow their own between-start workout programs and discuss openly ideas or suggestions.

The hardest part for Banister about becoming the Pirates' interim bench coach deep into the season?

"Making sure these players are safe. That I'm not a distraction at all. This is their show. It's probably a little easier than some [positions]. Most of these guys ... they know me. Some of them I've managed. Some of them I've coached. Some of them I've been with for about 12 years -- like Ryan Doumit."

Negotiations continued Saturday with first-round pick Jameson Taillon, who seems a good bet to sign, and second-rounder Stetston Allie, and they may yet go right up until the midnight signing deadline Monday. It's all part of the get-to-the-World-Series poker that major league teams play, desperately trying not to show their hands, holding close their numbers.

The Pirates headed into the weekend still talking with one other June draftee, at least: sixth-rounder Jason Hursh.

One frustrated person close to negotiations wondered why, in the case where one agency advises both right-handed pitchers Taillon and Allie, they couldn't merely lock the Hendricks brothers and Pirates general manager Neal Huntington in a room earlier in the week. Nobody comes out until they have a deal.

As that person put it: "Whatever happened to doing the best, right thing for the team/player regardless of others?"

Colin Dunlap's blog on the Pirates is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.