McLaughlin appeared in three games for Atlanta, starting two of them though getting hit hard, lastin only a combined six innings while giving up 10 earned runs for an unsightly 15.00 ERA.
He would spend all of 1978 in the Minors before making it back the following season, where he would go 5-3 with a very nice 2.48 ERA over 37 appearances and 69 innings pitched, finding new life as an arm out of the bullpen.
He’d go on to play seven years in the Big Leagues, for the Braves, Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, through the 1984 season, finishing up with a record of 29-28, with an ERA of 3.85 over 250 appearances and 448.2 innings pitched, with 36 saves.