Veteran T.J. McFarland, playing for a former teammate, sets example for young Tides

Nine years ago, the last time the Baltimore Orioles were this good, T.J. McFarland spent part of an up-and-down season sitting at his locker by the clubhouse exit to the field at Harbor Park.

McFarland, then a hopeful 25-year-old left-hander, had spent the entire previous season with the parent Orioles, thanks in part to a quirky rule that required him to stay there.

Across the clubhouse in Norfolk sat a slightly older, unheralded utilityman who had yet to get a taste of the major leagues.

All these years and a Baltimore overhaul later, the two players’ roles have drastically changed. But both continue to have the same goal: to help the surging Orioles win in the big leagues.

McFarland, now 34, is back with the Norfolk Tides after a long absence in which he brought his total of major league appearances up to 354 over 11 seasons.

The player across the room in 2014, Buck Britton, now sits in an office down the hall as his manager.

McFarland, who has played for five major league teams and another 14 in the minors, has pretty much seen it all. But he had never seen a former teammate calling the shots.

“It’s definitely the first time that’s ever happened,” McFarland said.

“Obviously, if you stay around long enough, you’re going to see players become coaches, and that’s what happened.”

McFarland, a fourth-round draft pick of the then-Cleveland Indians out of a Chicago-area high school in 2007, joined the Orioles’ organization via the major league portion of the 2012 Rule 5 draft. By rule, he had to spend the entire 2013 season in the big leagues.

He has since played in the majors for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Oakland A’s, the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets, who designated him for assignment last month.

The Orioles signed McFarland to a minor league deal and sent him to Norfolk, where not only was he reunited with an old teammate; he now lockers in about the same spot where Britton set up shop in 2014.

Neither man can remember for sure.

“Man, I had so many lockers, to be honest with you,” Britton said. “I hope he’s in there. Maybe he’ll find some cash, and I’ll claim it as mine.”

McFarland’s return to Norfolk is unique for other reasons. On a roster loaded with young prospects, he is a rare veteran voice whose experience commands respect.

Rarer still, McFarland is one of the few players in the organization who has playoff experience with the Orioles. He was in the big leagues for much of 2014, when Baltimore won the American League East and lost in the AL Championship Series.

The Orioles reached the wild-card game in 2016 and haven’t made the postseason since, though they currently lead the East with a roster rebuilt mostly through the draft and free-agent acquisitions.

Chayce McDermott, a 24-year-old right-hander who joined the Tides from Double-A Bowie in early July, spent part of an afternoon this week chatting with McFarland as they shagged flies during batting practice.

The conversation, McDermott said, was wide-ranging.

“When to throw pitches, where to throw them,” he said. “There are so many things with pitching. We just talked about 10 different things out there for the 30 minutes. It’s nice to get his experience on it and everything, especially being part of the org in the past.”

Even non-pitchers find value in being around someone with McFarland’s résumé. Heston Kjerstad, a 24-year-old outfielder who is just more than a year into his pro career after some medical issues delayed his start, is well aware of where McFarland has been.

“He’s had a lot of time in the big leagues,” said Kjerstad, the No. 4 prospect in the organization according to MLB.com. “He’s been around, so it’s always good to have that guy around to maybe talk to young guys about stuff, or even just see how he goes about his business, his work and how he carries himself day-to-day. Because he’s obviously had success at the level we all want to have success at, too.”

Norfolk catcher Maverick Handley said there is a noticeable difference between catching a veteran like McFarland and a new pitcher fresh from Double-A.

McFarland, Handley said, goes after each batter more deliberately than most younger pitchers, entering each showdown with a clear plan. McFarland, therefore, is more likely to shake off his catcher.

“He might have an idea of like how he wants to attack a hitter that might be slightly different than mine,” Handley said. “Also, you can just see the calm presence he has on the mound. We have a couple of guys who have some service time here. You can just kind of feel their calmness and their peace, almost, up there.

“It’s pretty cool. It’s easy to catch.”

In four relief appearances since joining the Tides, McFarland is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA. In his major league career, he is 24-16 with a 4.14 ERA, a long track record that could make him an attractive option for the Orioles down the stretch.

Other than three pitchers on major league rehab assignments, McFarland is the oldest player on Norfolk’s roster by quite a bit. Among the regular players, only right-hander Kyle Dowdy has reached 30. McFarland’s youngest teammate is 21-year-old infielder Coby Mayo.

The role is not entirely foreign to McFarland, even if he’s not overtly trying to play it.

“It’s not like I’ve just become a veteran,” he said. “I’ve been there for a couple of years now. But that’s kind of the goal, right? You go through all the stages: You’re a rookie, you’re kind of somewhere in between and then, if you’re lucky enough and stay around long enough, you turn into that veteran. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m doing anything as a veteran role here. I’ve been here for a week. These guys know how to play, so I’m not really assimilating that role. But I’m definitely older than everybody here. That’s for sure.”

McDermott, echoing Handley, has admired McFarland’s demeanor.

“Just watching him, he’s very calm,” McDermott, the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week, said. “I feel like just being a young guy, I’m still kind of amped up and trying to be perfect with everything. And he just stays focused on what he’s focused on and uses that to his advantage and doesn’t let himself get outside of what he does. So I think that’s a big thing I can take away from him.”

Britton, who called managing a former teammate “unique,” said he and McFarland have enjoyed sharing old stories. Britton appreciates the help in mentoring Baltimore’s future stars.

“He’s carved out a pretty nice career,” Britton, 37, said. “He was around here when the Orioles were winning the division and making the playoffs. I think just having that veteran voice, especially for these guys that have just come up from Double-A that don’t have a ton of experience at this level, they can pick his brain. Advice is always good, no matter where you get it.”

McFarland, a married father of a nearly 2-year-old son, has a collection of framed jerseys from all the teams for which he’s played. Top memories from his career so far include a particularly loud Orioles playoff game in 2014 and a ninth-inning relief appearance for the Cardinals in a 2021 wild-card game.

Among his other memories is the route to Harbor Park from his apartment in Virginia Beach, even if he did live in downtown Norfolk his last time in town.

“So the drive’s a little different,” McFarland said. “But it hasn’t changed. In many ways, it’s easier to kind of just jump right in when you’re familiar with it.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com. Twitter @DavidHallVP.