The Diamondbacks declined to tender McFarland a contract for 2018, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland rarely misses bats (4.8 K/9 last year), but he keeps the ball on the ground (67 percent groundball rate) and limits the free passes (2.8 BB/9). Those abilities, along with his success against same-handed hitters last season (.233 wOBA), should be more than enough for McFarland to earn a big-league invite to spring training.

McFarland tossed a perfect seventh inning and struck out two batters in a 6-2 loss to the Padres on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland opened September with holds in his first two appearances of the month, but he's since settled back into lower-leverage work out of the Arizona bullpen. That should be the norm for the rest of the regular season, as McFarland's 5.44 ERA and 1.50 WHIP won't allow manager Torey Lovullo to deploy the lefty with much confidence in key spots.

McFarland tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen in Thursday's 8-1 win over the Dodgers. He gave up one hit and one walk and struck out a batter.

EDGE Analysis

It was McFarland's first appearance since Aug. 20, when he was needed for a spot start against the Twins when Robbie Ray was still on the disabled list with a concussion. With the Diamondbacks' rotation now at full strength and further pitching staff reinforcements to come Friday when rosters expand, McFarland's outings should be limited to mop-up duty in relief during non-competitive games throughout September.

McFarland (4-5) allowed seven runs on five hits and two walks while recording just a single out during Sunday's loss to Minnesota.

EDGE Analysis

This was McFarland's first start of the season, and he entered with a 10.45 ERA through six relief appearances in August, so Sunday's poor outing shouldn't be overly surprising. Still, it's pretty rare for a starter to fail to pitch out of the first inning. McFarland projects to return to the bullpen, and if he's scheduled for a spot start in the future, fantasy expectations should be kept in check.

McFarland will start Sunday's game against the Twins.

EDGE Analysis

Braden Shipley was recently scratched from a scheduled start at Triple-A and seemed like a logical candidate for Sunday's start, but it will be McFarland who gets the nod, while Shipley will come up to provide length out of the bullpen. McFarland has posted a 10.45 ERA in August and he hasn't thrown more than 58 pitches in an appearance this season, so expectations should be low.

McFarland surrendered a season-high seven runs (six earned) on five hits and two walks over 2.1 innings of relief in Tuesday's 16-4 loss to the Cubs.

EDGE Analysis

After the Cubs torched starter Patrick Corbin for eight runs in the first three innings, McFarland temporarily restored order, keeping the home team off the board for the subsequent two frames. However, things unraveled for McFarland in the sixth inning, when he allowed six of the first seven batters to reach base before his night came to an end after Kris Bryant took him to deep to center field for a three-run blast. The rough outing in long relief caused McFarland's season ERA to jump from 2.29 all the way to 3.58.

McFarland (4-3) was on the losing end in long relief in Friday's 1-0 loss to the Cardinals, tossing 3.2 innings and giving up one unearned run on three hits. He struck out one batter in the outing.

EDGE Analysis

After Robbie Ray took an 108 mile-per-hour line drive to the head in the second inning, McFarland was called upon from the bullpen and did a commendable job in getting the Diamondbacks through the middle innings. An error by Daniel Descalso to lead off the sixth inning proved costly, however, as it allowed Tommy Pham to reach base and ultimately come around to score on a Jedd Gyorko single. Ray isn't certain to be available for his next scheduled start August 3 against the Cubs, but the Diamondbacks would probably go with Triple-A Reno starter Anthony Banda to temporarily enter the rotation rather than having McFarland make a spot start if Ray is forced to the disabled list.

McFarland gave up one hit -- a solo home run -- over 1.1 innings in relief in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the Nationals.

EDGE Analysis

With a 2.64 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 30.2 innings this season, McFarland has been serviceable as a long man out of the bullpen for the Diamondbacks, but he's shown some cracks of late. He's given up at least one run in three of his last four appearances, which won't help his case for seeing more usage in higher-leverage spots.

McFarland allowed a walkoff single to Chris Taylor in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Diamondbacks fell to the Dodgers by a 5-4 count Thursday.

EDGE Analysis

The Diamondbacks entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead, but closer Fernando Rodney completely melted down, allowing all six batters he faced to reach base and conceding three runs before he was mercifully pulled. Tasked with recording all three outs with the bases loaded, McFarland faced a no-win situation and saw the Dodgers come around to score the winning run when Taylor's hit couldn't be corralled by Arizona outfielder Rey Fuentes. Fortunately for McFarland, that run was charged to Rodney and he was able to steer clear of any damage to his sterling 1.78 ERA on the season.

McFarland gave up two hits over two scoreless innings during Saturday's 5-1 win over the Phillies. He struck out two batters.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland was on the mound for the first time in more than a week after getting roughed up for four runs (three earned) while recording only four outs his last time out June 9 against the Brewers. With the exception of that blowup, McFarland has proven himself as a capable innings eater out of the bullpen, though it's not expected he'll settle into more high-leverage work in the near future. McFarland is carrying a 1.74 ERA and 16:5 K:BB over 20.2 innings on the season.