McLaughlin was drafted by the Braves in the 38th round of the 2012 draft by the Braves, but he chose to go to college at the University of Georgia. The Braves were happy to roll the dice again on McLaughlin in the 19th round this past June in the draft.
He started his first season with Danville and pitched 11 games there before moving up to Rome for 9 games to finish out the season. Overall over those 20 appearances (1 start), he totaled 40 innings pitched, a 2.92 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 13/44 BB/K ratio.