Chipper Jones back in Braves camp as a “rookie coach”

By Aaron GleemanFeb 18, 2013, 1:20 PM EST
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Chipper Jones has focused mostly on tweeting since retiring, but yesterday he was back in uniform as a guest coach for the Braves.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that Jones looked the part while walking around carrying a fungo bat, but manager Fredi Gonzalez had an amusing Day 1 performance review:

He’s a rookie coach. We’ve got to bring him along a little bit. I will address the issue of him sitting on the bucket for two rounds [of batting practice].

I like the image of various veteran Braves coaches mumbling “ugh, rookies” under their breath whenever Jones does anything.

Diamondbacks, T.J. McFarland avoid arbitration

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By Bill BaerJan 23, 2019, 9:11 PM EST
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Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports reports that the Diamondbacks and reliever T.J. McFarland have avoided arbitration, agreeing on a $1.45 million salary for the 2019 season. McFarland, in his third of four years of arbitration eligibility, filed for $1.675 million while the Diamondbacks countered at $1.275 million. McFarland ended up settling for just under the midpoint of those two figures.

McFarland, 29, was terrific out of the bullpen for the D-Backs last season, finishing with a 2.00 ERA and a 42/22 K/BB ratio in 72 innings. While the lefty may not miss a lot of bats, he does induce quite a few grounders. His 67.9 percent ground ball rate last season was the third highest among relievers with at least 50 innings, trailing only Brad Ziegler (71.1%) and Scott Alexander (70.6%).

McFarland was dominant against left-handed hitters, limiting them to a .388 OPS last season, but the D-Backs deployed him nearly twice as often against right-handed hitters, who posted an aggregate .764 OPS against him. It will be interesting to see if the club decides to use him more as a platoon reliever in 2019.