Baltimore Orioles bag left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland in Rule 5 Draft - MLB News
The Baltimore Orioles bagged Cleveland Indians’ Triple-A associate Columbus pitcher T.J. McFarland in the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning.
Dan Duquette, the executive vice president of baseball operations for the Orioles seemed quite pleased with the selection. He expressed hope that the left-handed pitchers ability to win games in the Minor League will translate into the Majors. Duquette was
also vocal about the cost effectiveness that a pitcher like T.J. will provide.
"We know he has a knack for winning games, and hopefully that knack will translate to the Major Leagues," Dan said. "We had targeted a couple left-handed pitchers in the Draft. We wanted to get another left-handed pitcher into our system, and this was a
cost-effective way to accomplish that."
McFarland played with two teams in the Indians’ farm system during the 2012 season. Playing for the Double-A Akron Aeros, he had an 8-2 winning record as a starting pitcher. He posted an ERA of 2.69 in the 60 innings that he pitched.
His second stint was the Indians’ Triple-A associate Columbus Clippers where the 23-year-old posted an 8-6 winning record. He played a total of 17 games, all of them as starting pitcher and posted a 4.82 ERA.
This is a second time the Orioles have selected a player from the draft under Dan Duquette. Last year they picked then Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Flaherty and he remained in the Majors through the season.
Dan also provided some insight on the pitchers’ skills after he was taken on board by the O’s. McFarland posses a fair bit of variety which can be an important factor to achieve success in the Major League.
"He pitched very well the last month of the season and he pitched a fine game against the Norfolk team where he beat our ballclub down there," Duquette said. "He's got a good sinker, he keeps the ball down, he's got a good changeup and he throws strikes
in the bottom of the strike zone. And we like him as a qualified Major Leaguer."
The Orioles have one spot left on the 40-man roster which should be filled once Nate McLouth clears his physical. The ball club also added Double-A New Britain’s pitcher Tom Boleska. New Britain is a farm team in the Twins’ Minor League System. The 26-year-old
will be headed to Triple-A Norfolk Tides.
The selection of McFarland appears to be a good one as the south paw has shown some signs of great pitching ability. One can certainly take heart from his impressive performances in the Minor League and hope that he can translate that into Major League success
in 2013.
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