What do Brandon Workman and Graeme Lloyd have in common?

By Bill BaerOct 26, 2013, 11:56 PM EST
23 Comments

Neither is in my kitchen. I kid.

ESPN’s Mark Simon posted this fascinating bit of Trivia on Twitter a few minutes ago, after Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman had stepped into the batter’s box in the ninth inning of a tie game against Trevor Rosenthal. Workman, of course, struck out looking.

Baseball!

As of this writing, Workman is on the mound in his second inning of relief for John Farrell’s Red Sox.

Diamondbacks, T.J. McFarland avoid arbitration

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
By Bill BaerJan 23, 2019, 9:11 PM EST
2 Comments

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.