NEW YORK — Another day, and another reliever shuffled out of the Orioles bullpen.
This time, it's T.J. McFarland joining the team Friday, as he was activated from the disabled list after his fifth rehabilitation appearance on his way back from knee inflammation and was added to a makeshift bullpen.
"Obviously, I'm happy," McFarland said. "I'm happy that that went well, and I'm healthy now, so I'm able to help the team in any way. ... I'm just glad I needed that time to get it right and get back here. I don't feel anything now. I feel stronger than ever."
McFarland suffered the knee injury in late May at Triple-A Norfolk, spent a week on the disabled list, then returned to pitch and ride the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore until the knee got to a point where it needed attention.
"I think it just came to a point where it needed to really get taken care of, and that's what we were able to do," McFarland said.
"Obviously wasn't expecting a two-month DL stint, but that's kind of what you run into when you have an injury like that when you're not really sure what it is 100 percent. However long it took, it needed time to get right and I gave it ample time to do that, so I'm happy."
He took the place of Logan Ondrusek, who was designated for assignment off the 25-man roster.
The Orioles' insistence on stocking up on long relievers has created a mismatched collection of relievers, including a slew of call-ups and long men tasked with giving manager Buck Showalter options outside of Mychal Givens and Brad Brach, his top two remaining nonclosing relievers with Darren O'Day on the DL with a rotator cuff strain.
They Orioles have made moves regularly during the second half of August. On Aug. 19, Tyler Wilson was optioned out of the bullpen after two innings against the Houston Astros.
Odrisamer Despaigne, who was added in his place, pitched three innings Saturday in relief of Chris Tillman before he was sent out. Rookie Parker Bridwell came up to take his spot, and pitched twice in a four-day span before he was optioned for Ondrusek on Thursday afternoon.
The Orioles tried to coax two innings out of Ondrusek in Thursday's 4-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, but he gave up three runs in the eighth inning to put it out of reach.
McFarland has a 5.63 ERA in 24 major league innings this year. Ondrusek leaves the roster for a second time, this time carrying a 9.95 ERA. He will remain on the 40-man roster.