I don't ever want to see TJ McFarland in an Orioles uniform again

[Three Run Homer]

T.J. was definitely a long reliever last year, and that's probably supposed to be his role now. Trouble is, he's not very good at it. His M.O. last year was to come in with men on base, allow all of them to score to put the game out of reach, and then settle down and throw a scoreless inning or two. Gee, thanks for nothing. This year, he can't even keep his own ERA down.

[gmelson26]

I wholeheartedly agree with the thread title and have for a long time now. I don't see why we bent over backwards last year to keep him or why he's even on the team. I feel like what he does, nearly any pitcher in AAA could do just as well or probably better.

[vab]

Get the Cubs pitcher (not going to attempt his last name right now) in here and you can move one of these starters into that long relief role. Another reason to get that deal done.

[Ori-Al]

Buck took McFarland out of his rhythm with the intentional walk. That can happen. McFarland had gotten two easy ground balls from the first two hitters.

That pitcher is almost as good a hitter as Reynolds, with good power.

[Rene88]

Who is worse-McFarland or Lew Ford?

I heard a rumor that McFarland gave Edward Snowden safe house too....

[Frobby]

Last year, he gave up 83 hits in 74.2 innings. Garbage for a reliever. He pitched in 38 games. That's fewer than 2 IP per appearance. That is not a long reliever! Plus he has now given up Earned Runs in four of his six appearances. His only two appearances without an earned run were one inning appearances. That is not a long reliever. And that is certainly not a major league reliever. Garbage. Is it time that the Eddie Gamboa experiment finally gets a chance in the big leagues?

You are wrong about him not being a long reliever. Taking a look at all the relievers in MLB last year, there are very few who pitched more IP per appearance than McFarland. Anthony Swarzak, who pitched the most innings of any reliever in the majors, averaged exactly 2.0 IP per appearance. McFarland averaged 1.95. So far as I can see, the only other pitcher who threw more than 40 innings last year and averaged more IP per appearance than McFarland was Adam Warren, who averaged 2.16. So, McFarland was 3rd among 160 pitchers who threw at least 40 innings in relief last year.

yes but my point is in over half of those "long relief appearances" of at least two innings he has given up at least a run (that is true for last year and this year). Also, because he gives up way too many hits -- and the goal of the long man and mop up guy is to keep the game within reach and not give up runs and give the offense a chance to scratch their way back into things -- Buck took him out well before that two inning plateau. His hits/innings pitched are way too high. He expect a long reliever to hopefulyl go 1 time through the lineup. That gets you to 2+ innings. He gave up too many hits and couldn't do that. And by the way, for a left, he can't get lefties out.

I'm not arguing that he's a good long reliever. I was just pointing out that the fact that he averages slightly less than 2 IP per appearance supports that he is a long reliever. You seemed to be assuming in your first post that there are a lot of long relievers out there who average 2+ innings per appearance, and that is definitely not the case. McFarland was in the upper 2% in IP per appearance last year.

For me, McFarland is a AAAA pitcher who filled a bunch of garbage innings last year and therefore served his purpose. He's not a guy you want to use in a close game, and he rarely was used in close games last year, but sometimes, it's inevitable.

[terps19]

What just happened? Britton blows a save and the pitcher smokes a double to win in extra innings, all in the same game? Another one for the Twilight Zone I guess.

Agree with everyone regarding TJ- he seems to be Buck's Ryan Flaherty on the mound which is the only reason he sticks around. Dr Seuss got nothing compare to me.

Doesn't Norfolk have anyone who better we can use? The Blue Jays get hot and start to separate themselves. The birds could be like that, but not with so much dead weight.

Britton didnt convert the save- he hardly blew it- I know that is the expression "blown save." But he gave up a swinging bunt that Machado had a little more time to throw than he thought. That is a throw that Machado makes most of the time IMO when healthy.

I wouldnt mind seeing TJ sent down for a very very long time.

[Shabadoo25]

What about Ayala?

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[Rene88]

What about Ayala?

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Ayala is in Bowie.

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[sfosfan]

Britton didnt convert the save- he hardly blew it- I know that is the expression "blown save." But he gave up a swinging bunt that Machado had a little more time to throw than he thought. That is a throw that Machado makes most of the time IMO when healthy.

I wouldnt mind seeing TJ sent down for a very very long time.

Completely agree about Britton- that stuff happens. Zach will be an awesome closer for the O's and I have zero doubt about that. I'd still like to see him in the rotation though, but that's another

[e16bball]

One of the things I think Buck does most effectively as a manager is find situations in which to place players that help them to succeed. Whether it's protecting hitters from specialist relievers by alternating L/R in the order or his approach to protecting relievers' arms by not getting them up on a whim, he generally seems to go out of his way to put his guys in situations that favor them.

I think he's failed in this respect with TJ McFarland, though. Since he's been with us, TJ has been used as a long man --- he was a starter in the minors with Cleveland, and they've kept him somewhat stretched out since he arrived here, so in some ways it stands to reason. However, it ignores the fact that TJ is substantially better against LHBs than he is against RHBs:

MLB (2013-14) vs. LHBs: 9.17 K/9, 1.73 BB/9, 5.3 K/BB, 57.3 GB%, 2.61 xFIP

MLB (2013-14) vs. RHBs: 5.11 K/9, 4.74 BB/9, 1.1 K/BB, 55.1 GB%, 4.78 xFIP

MiLB (2011-14) vs. LHBs: 9.33 K/9, 2.45 BB/9, 3.8 K/BB

MiLB (2011-14) vs. RHBs: 5.68 K/9, 3.22 BB/9, 1.8 K/BB

That 2.61 xFIP against LHBs over the past two seasons? It ranks 14th amongst ALL relievers in baseball. When it comes to performance against LHBs, TJ slots in right behind some of the absolute elite RPs in the game (Robertson, Koji, Kimbrel, Holland) and some of the best lefty relievers out there right now (Brett Cecil, Paco Rodriguez, Javier Lopez). His overall ERA (3.47) and FIP (3.46) against LHBs aren't quite as shiny --- but that's largely due to a whopping 20.0% HR/FB rate, one that doesn't appear likely to be sustainable.

It seems fairly clear that, at this point, he can't get RHB batters out at the ML level. But it also seems that he's extremely tough on LHBs, to the point that in his short ML career, he's already been one of the best lefty-killing RPs in the league.

So why are we still deploying him like he's a long man or a spot starter? Take him for what he is. He's a LOOGY. Yes, that means he and Matusz are essentially entirely redundant. But if TJ's going to be on the team, that's the role he should play --- locking down tough LHBs and being spared from ever facing tough RHBs. He could be excellent in that role. Continuing to treat him like a long man is wasting everyone's time and wasting a significant skill set that TJ possesses.

[CA-ORIOLE]

He uses his slider more against LHB's and that is a work in progress. He hangs them too frequently and they get hit hard. One of the reasons stated for letting Patton go was they felt comfortable improving TJ's slider this year. I'm not so sure. Those HR's and hits were hit hard. Using his platoon splits in a DIPS argument may not make the best of sense imo.

I normally might be with you on the peripheral/DIPS argument, but this is a tougher one complicated by small sample size and pretty obvious deficiencies and specific idiosyncrasies with Mcfarland, who has actually been far more effective with his bread and butter 2 seam fastball against RHB's than he has with LHB's.

One of the reasons DIPS makes sense statistically is because those guys who consistently get hit hard do not end up being in the statistical pool.

Calling TJ a LOOGY is a pretty big stretch imo.

[sportsfan8703]

Well we all know that Buck is stubborn once he places a guy in a certain role.

[weams]

Well we all know that Buck is stubborn once he places a guy in a certain role.

We know that Buck likes to win. A lot.

[weams]

H

Calling TJ a LOOGY is a pretty big stretch imo.

He may or may not be an effective major league pitcher. He's not what I would ever call a loogy.