McFarland says he isn't wondering how Gallardo's signing impacts him

SARASOTA, Fla. - With five right-handers in the rotation following Yovani Gallardo's agreement on a three-year, $35 million contract, do the Orioles need left-hander T.J. McFarland to serve as the long man in their bullpen?

McFarland isn't dwelling on it. He'll jump into the competition, but please remove him from the debate.

"I definitely don't think about that at all," McFarland said. "It's way too early to even speculate anything, if not later on in camp. I never speculate. It's been three years now and it's kind of come down to the wire, so I'm just going to go out there and whatever role they have me throw during spring, I'm just going to take it and run with it. We'll see what happens."

McFarland didn't break camp with the team last spring, his first appearance with the Orioles delayed until May 8. He went 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA and 1.736 WHIP in 30 games over 40 1/3 innings, disappointing production after he posted a 2.76 ERA and 1.415 WHIP in 37 games over 58 2/3 innings the previous season.

Right-handers batted .375/.461/.557 against McFarland last season and left-handers hit .232/.267/.317.

McFarland has been tweaking his delivery over the winter, first simulating it at his house without actually throwing. Let him explain.

"There's some things I worked on in the offseason in terms of getting a longer stride and kind of being more downhill, and as a result of that, my pitches are going to be sharper," he said "By throwing a 'pen (Friday) I'm already seeing some good results, so I'm happy. It's more along the lines of me throwing downhill instead of side to side.

"Of course, the breaking ball is a big pitch for me, and so is the changeup. But really it's a matter of sharpening everything and I feel like I've put in a lot of good work this offseason.

"Dom (Chiti) and Dave (Wallace) have been talking about it for the past season or so and we've kind of been trying to implement it a little bit with still being competitive during the season, as well, because it's kind of hard to make a change in the middle of the season. So that's why I kind of hit the ground running in the offseason and really, really worked on exactly what we talked about all year."

I've been asked about the corresponding 40-man roster move for Gallardo. I'm only able to speculate, which is never comfortable.

I'd expect a pitcher to be removed, though it's not a requirement. The Orioles can't designate left-hander Chris Jones for assignment because they put him on the 40-man in November to protect him in the Rule 5 draft. It's a baseball rule. They'd have to release him and attempt to re-sign him, as they did two years ago after signing outfielder Nelson Cruz.

Players have been submitting their own guesses, conceding that there isn't an obvious choice.

There might not be a spot for Vance Worley, who's out of options, but he could be a trade candidate later in camp.