Showalter Likes What He Sees in T.J. McFarland

[Il BuonO]

Wondered if anyone was aware of the stat for quality of opponent at BBREF. It shows Mcfarland at a 7.7 which is far and away the lowest among the starters.

Here's another quote from the story this morning:

"There's two thoughts," explained manager Buck Showalter. "Do you pitch him against teams up here and let scouts see him so they claim him? Do you hide him out, but not get a proper evaluation and pitch him somewhere else? The whole idea is to get the best evaluation of him here against the best competition, so he'll continue to pitch for us.

That tells me maybe they intend to step up not only his innings in the near future but the level of competition. If so, we should know very quickly if the adjustment he made holds vs ML hitters. According to the stat he's faced mainly AA hitters thus far.

I was in firmly in the camp that he didn't have the MiL numbers to predict any ML success and hadn't shown anything worth out interest but I have to admit I'm intrigued by a guy who's a GB pitcher in Camden Yards. That would be a nice commodity to have if he can be successful.

The next couple weeks should be interesting.

[tilgaham]

I just don't see McFarland staying with the organization, short of a trade. We'd have to remove Hunter, and he's having arguably the best spring of any pitcher in the organization.

10.0IP

2.70ERA

0 BB

9 K

1.00 WHIP

[Il BuonO]

I just don't see McFarland staying with the organization, short of a trade. We'd have to remove Hunter, and he's having arguably the best spring of any pitcher in the organization.

10.0IP

2.70ERA

0 BB

9 K

1.00 WHIP

It's a good line and according to BBREF he's faced the tougher competition so far this spring with a 9.1 Opp Qual rating.

We could, however, do this:

posted by RZNJ

Talk about trading Hunter, why not Luis Ayala? He is cheap and only signed through this year. He won't get you much back but he also would be easy to move and get something. Hunter seems to have a little more upside than Ayala and could increase value during the season. Ayala also strikes me as someone who could back slide this year.

[Surhoffan17]

Everybody is talking about Hunter as a long reliever, but I don't see why he couldn't be a short inning reliever and bring the gas. I liked what I saw of him late last season, granted it was in September and the competition was lousy. Last year we had no long reliever to start the season and it worked out OK. This isn't to say Hunter couldn't be strectched out occasionally if our starters get knocked out early, but I'm all about having a BP of O'Day, Ayala, Hunter, Strop, J Johnson, Patton, and Matusz. We occasionally would call up an eigth reliever when we needed it last year and that could be S Johnson this year.

I just don't see enough value in McFarland.

[waroriole]

It's a good line and according to BBREF he's faced the tougher competition so far this spring with a 9.1 Opp Qual rating.

We could, however, do this:

posted by RZNJ

Talk about trading Hunter, why not Luis Ayala? He is cheap and only signed through this year. He won't get you much back but he also would be easy to move and get something. Hunter seems to have a little more upside than Ayala and could increase value during the season. Ayala also strikes me as someone who could back slide this year.

Yeah, that's not a bad thought. Though, I'm not sure I want to mess with our bullpen for a guy that hasn't been very impressive.

[Il BuonO]

I just don't see McFarland staying with the organization, short of a trade. We'd have to remove Hunter, and he's having arguably the best spring of any pitcher in the organization.

10.0IP

2.70ERA

0 BB

9 K

1.00 WHIP

Yeah, that's not a bad thought. Though, I'm not sure I want to mess with our bullpen for a guy that hasn't been very impressive.

Well, I get the sentiment if you are talking about him as a starter, but as tilgaham shows in his post he has been good this spring and if you discount that take a look at his numbers from last Sept. I have it here in my thread, post #33 about the middle of the post.

On my phone so I'm limited.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/130509-Hunter-Gets-Stretched-Out/page3

[waroriole]

Well, I get the sentiment if you are talking about him as a starter, but as tilgaham shows in his post he has been good this spring and if you discount that take a look at his numbers from last Sept. I have it here in my thread, post #33 about the middle of the post.

On my phone so I'm limited.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/130509-Hunter-Gets-Stretched-Out/page3

I was talking about McFarland, not Hunter. I think Tommy will thrive in the pen this year.

[Il BuonO]

I was talking about McFarland, not Hunter. I think Tommy will thrive in the pen this year.

Ah, yes. Well, that was my feeling to begin with but I'm coming around to the idea. More importantly, Buck seems to like him.

[markakis8]

It's a good line and according to BBREF he's faced the tougher competition so far this spring with a 9.1 Opp Qual rating.

We could, however, do this:

posted by RZNJ

Talk about trading Hunter, why not Luis Ayala? He is cheap and only signed through this year. He won't get you much back but he also would be easy to move and get something. Hunter seems to have a little more upside than Ayala and could increase value during the season. Ayala also strikes me as someone who could back slide this year.

Trading Ayala is not a bad idea with the depth we had. Just hope we get more than we did for Pat Neshek (I can't believe we practically gave him away. I thought that was one of the better signings of 2012 offseason).

Houston is probably looking or cheap help in the pen. How about Ayala for Marc Krauss...who is probably a RHB/4th OF type guy with some pop.

[OFFNY]

.

T.J. McFARLAND O(vs. BLUE JAYS, 3/20) O(Spring Training)

IP:O 3 O(SAVE)

H:o. 1

R:O. 0

BB:. 0

SO:. 2

2013 ERA: 3.09 (Spring Training)

[baltfan]

I think he is going to make this team. Britton is going down. Matusz is the fifth starter.

[Frobby]

McFarland has looked better and better as spring training has progressed. I'm starting to think he'll make the club. If Hunter and McFarland are both in the pen, Buck has two guys who can go 3+ innings, one rights and one lefty, plus it gives him two lefties in the pen. And, if McFarland disappoints, we can always offer him back or offer a trade.

[waroriole]

McFarland has looked better and better as spring training has progressed. I'm starting to think he'll make the club. If Hunter and McFarland are both in the pen, Buck has two guys who can go 3+ innings, one rights and one lefty, plus it gives him two lefties in the pen. And, if McFarland disappoints, we can always offer him back or offer a trade.

That would require Matusz to be the 5th SP, which is looking more and more likely.

[JayThomas]

It all comes together ...

[waroriole]

So, the pitching staff could look like this:

Hammel

Chen

Gonzo

Tillman

Matusz

JJ

O'Day

Strop

Patton

Ayala

Hunter

McFarland