2011 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #43 T.J. McFarland

T.J. McFarland – Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 06/08/1989 – Height: 6’3” – Weight: 190 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

(Photo: Tony Lastoria)

History: McFarland was a 4th round pick of the Indians in the 2007 Draft out of Amos Alonso Stagg High School (IL). He hurt his elbow as a high school junior but avoided Tommy John surgery, and when he complained of elbow soreness after signing with the Indians they played it safe and did not have him pitch in 2007. He finished last season ranked 7th in the organization in ERA (3.37) and 3rd in wins (11), and he finished 4^th in the Carolina League in ERA and 2^nd in wins.

Strengths: McFarland is an athletic groundball machine who has the weapons to be a starter and potentially is someone who will have three major league average pitches. He consistently pounds the strike zone with his two-seam sinking fastball that sits at 89-92 MPH and touches 94 MPH, and is his bread and butter pitch and one he really relies on. His sinker is considered one of the best in the system - second really only to right-hander Joe Gardner - as while he does not strike a lot of batters out he pitches to contact, throws strikes and relies on its heavy sinking action to get hitters to pound the ball into the ground. He also throws a slider and changeup, with the slider having the makings of a good breaking ball and the changeup is still a work in progress.

McFarland throws all three of his pitches for strikes and really trusts his fastball. He is not scared of contact, and as he continues to mature as a pitcher both physically and mentally he may see a jump in his strikeout rate due to potential velocity gains and improved command and action of his sinker. He works quickly and creates some deception in his delivery which helps keep hitters off balance. He is very durable and shows an ability to pitch deep into games with his excellent command and efficiency with his pitches. At this stage of his development looks a lot like Aaron Laffey when he was pitching in the lower levels of the Indians’ system several years ago.

McFarland’s success last year was a result of some very good control of his outstanding sinker where he consistently threw it for strikes and kept it down in the zone. He also showed a much improved mental approach to the game with significant gains in his maturity and mental toughness, and it paid off for him in the box scores. He also made some strides with his secondary stuff as he showed an improved ability to spot his changeup and slider and improved confidence in himself to just trust his stuff. He learned to pitch rather than throw the ball by hitters, and with a more refined pitch to contact approach he was able to get hitters to get themselves out by rolling over on balls at a high rate for routine groundball outs.

Opportunities: McFarland is still learning how to pitch and use his secondary offerings as he predominantly pitches with his fastball. He needs to continue to work on using his secondary offerings to make them reliable major league quality pitches and play up his fastball. The Indians have stressed damage control to him as he always seems to have one inning where he gives up multiple runs, so they want him to continue to work on limiting the damage when he gets in a jam to where it is just one run instead of two or three or four runs he allows. The Indians would also like him to show more strikeouts ability and fewer home runs, and also continue to work on his delivery mechanics with repeating his delivery.

Outlook: McFarland opened last season in the High-A Kinston bullpen in a piggyback situation with left-hander Nick Hagadone because of the abundance of starting pitching options at Kinston and Double-A Akron. As callups and injuries occurred, he found himself permanently in the Kinston starting rotation by mid-May and put together a very good season. Led by a high groundball rate (2.25 GO/AO) and a pitch to contact mentality, he continues to make progress every season and has established himself as an interesting pitching prospect going forward. He does not rank as high as he probably should mostly because of the presence of so many other highly rated pitchers in the system, whereas in another system lacking pitching depth he would probably be ranked 10-15 slots higher. He should open the 2011 season at Double-A Akron.

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2008	19	GCL Indians	R	3	4	5.07	12	10	55	70	31	3	15	38	.314	2.5	6.2	1.55
2009	20	Lake County	A	9	4	3.58	25	23	120	128	48	6	42	85	.275	3.1	6.3	1.41
2010	21	Akron	AA	0	0	11.25	1	1	4	9	5	1	2	5	.429	4.5	11.3	2.75
2010	21	Kinston	A+	11	5	3.13	24	19	126	121	44	9	40	92	.246	2.8	6.5	1.27
		MiLB Totals		23	13	3.76	62	53	306	328	128	19	99	220	.273	2.9	6.5	1.39

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