McFarland tossed four scoreless frames out of the bullpen Sunday in the Diamondbacks' 4-3 loss to the Padres in 16 innings. He ceded two hits and three walks and struck out two.

EDGE Analysis

Even though McFarland took on the brunt of the innings in long relief, the Diamondbacks still ended up exhausting their available bullpen options in the marathon loss. With the Diamondbacks pulling McFarland after he tossed 53 pitches, starter Zack Godley was pressed into action to cover the 15th inning before giving way to catcher Jeff Mathis, who worked the 16th and gave up the go-ahead run on a Wil Myers solo shot. McFarland will have Monday's team off day to recover from the extended outing and should technically be available for Tuesday's series opener in Colorado, but don't expect manager Torey Lovullo to turn to the lefty in that contest if he can help it.

McFarland was tagged for two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of relief in Monday's 10-3 loss to the Giants.

EDGE Analysis

After yielding only two home runs over his first 35.1 innings of the season, McFarland has now served up long balls in back-to-back appearances, with Nick Hundley taking the lefty deep in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the finishing touches on the Giants' blowout win. Despite the cracks he has shown of late, McFarland has been solid on the whole as a long man out of the Arizona bullpen this season,posting a 2.37 ERA and 1.21 WHIP while working mostly in low-leverage spots.

McFarland covered 2.2 scoreless innings in long relief during the Diamondbacks' 8-2 loss to the Brewers on Thursday. He gave up a walk and a hit and struck out one.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland retired eight of the 10 batters he faced in an efficient 40 pitches, sparing Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo from having to overwork his relief corps in the blowout loss. With a 1.46 ERA and 0.97 WHIP across 12.1 innings in his last five appearances, McFarland has been exceptional in long relief of late, though most of his work has come with the outcome of the game already decided. With Robbie Ray (oblique) still on the mend and seemingly unlikely to return by the end of the month, McFarland could get the opportunity to temporarily fill the final spot in Arizona's five-man rotation. The Diamondbacks will next require a fifth starter Tuesday in Milwaukee, so if McFarland goes unused out of the bullpen in the three-game series with the Mets over the weekend, he might be the top candidate to replace Ray.

McFarland covered 1.1 scoreless frames in relief to pick up the win Tuesday in the Diamondbacks' 8-5 triumph over the Dodgers in 12 innings. He struck out one and retired all four batters he faced.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland was considered a spot-start candidate for Thursday's series opener against the Nationals with Braden Shipley (elbow) surprisingly joining Robbie Ray (oblique) on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday, but the 16-pitch, four-out appearance probably takes that off the table. If manager Torey Lovullo does tab the lefty for the Thursday start on short rest, it would likely be as part of a bullpen game that would result in McFarland facing a limited pitch count.

McFarland is an option to replace Robbie Ray (oblique) in the starting rotation, Zach Buchanan of The Athletic Arizona reports.

EDGE Analysis

Ray landed on the disabled list with a Grade 2 oblique strain Monday. McFarland has been solid as a long reliever this season, compiling a 2.25 ERA across 16 innings (eight appearances), so there's a chance manager Torey Lovullo shifts him to a starting role until Ray is ready to return. The Diamondbacks could also opt to turn to their farm if they want to keep McFarland in long-relief role.

McFarland covered 4.2 innings of long relief in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Nationals, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks. He struck out one of the 22 batters he faced.

EDGE Analysis

With starter Robbie Ray departing midway through the second inning with a right oblique strain, McFarland was called upon from the bullpen on short notice to offer relief. The lack of prep time prior to entering the contest likely hurt McFarland, who saw his nine-inning scoreless streak come to a swift end when he allowed a solo home run to Matt Wieters, the first batter he faced. McFarland settled down over his final three innings, but he was ultimately saddled with loss after the Arizona offense couldn't get much going against the Washington pitching staff. It seems likely that the Diamondbacks will require a replacement for Ray the next time his turn in the rotation comes up Friday against the Astros, but McFarland seems unlikely to warrant any serious consideration for a spot start.

McFarland was credited with the win Saturday in the Diamondbacks' 9-1 triumph over the Dodgers after tossing four scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and no walks and struck out a batter.

EDGE Analysis

After failing to thwart a Dodgers rally while coming on in relief of starter Zack Greinke in the series opener, McFarland redeemed himself a day later when Taijuan Walker departed after two innings due to right forearm tightness. The lefty tossed 35 of his 59 pitches for strikes, induced eight groundball outs and allowed only two Dodgers to reach scoring position over his four spotless frames. While McFarland is still far down in the bullpen pecking order and will continue to see most of his work in low-leverage spots, Saturday's performance likely increased his security on the Diamondbacks' 40-man roster.

McFarland retired one of the three batters he faced and was charged with an earned run in the Diamondbacks' 8-7 win over the Dodgers on Friday.

EDGE Analysis

Making just his third appearance of the season and first in 10 days, McFarland was unable to clean up the mess created by starter Zack Greinke in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Greinke was pulled with one out and runners on second and third, McFarland stepped in and generated a groundout, but allowed a pair of run-scoring singles before getting the hook. While both runs went on Greinke's ledger, McFarland was charged for his own run after Archie Bradley let in a run prior to notching the final out of the frame. McFarland will continue to function as a long-relief option for the Diamondbacks, but his workload will likely remain light with the team's rotation members having failed to reach the sixth inning just once in 2018.

McFarland appears to have won a spot in the Diamondbacks' Opening Day bullpen after the team reassigned Michael Blazek and Kris Medlen to minor-league camp Monday, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The three pitchers were vying for one spot in the bullpen as a long reliever, but McFarland was able to hold his competitors at bay after yielding only three earned runs while generating plenty of groundballs over his nine Cactus League innings. McFarland will be the third lefty in the Diamondbacks' bullpen with Andrew Chafin and Jorge De La Rosa on tap to handle the higher-leverage situational work.

McFarland signed a one-year deal to come back to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

EDGE Analysis

McFarland was recently non-tendered by the club at the beginning of the month, but will find his way back into the bullpen after appearing in 43 games for Arizona in 2017. During those outings, he posted a 5.33 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 54 innings, but held left-handed batters to just a .222 average and only allowed four home runs all year. The southpaw will likely be used in a similar capacity to this past season as a sixth or seventh-inning arm.