On June 21, the Los Angeles Dodgers placed Caleb Ferguson on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 17, with left forearm tendinitis.
Although the Dodgers placed him on the IL, Ferguson said the injury wasn’t serious and he was just dealing with a bit of soreness. Ferguson believed at the time he was capable of pitching through the discomfort.
The Dodgers’ decision to place Ferguson on the IL also helped them make their active roster legal at the time when teams were required to reduce their pitching staff sizes from a maximum of 14 to 13.
Ferguson, however, feels like the team didn’t communicate their plan with him well and wasn’t very happy with their decision, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“There’s just been a lot of miscommunication over the last two and a half months,” he said. “Yeah, I’m just kind of tired of the miscommunication of it.”
Although it seemed Ferguson was healthy at the start of the season, the Dodgers opted to get him more work, and it wasn’t something he felt was necessary:
“I went through a longer rehab process than what I thought — and not really by choice, but that was what the team thought was best for me,” said Ferguson, who is contractually under team control for two more seasons. “I did it. I shut my mouth and did it. And I feel like we’re kind of going back on with that.”
Ferguson is in his first season back from Tommy John surgery and he didn’t make an appearance until the middle of May after starting the season on the 10-day IL. He was also optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City following his season debut, before being recalled in early June.
Ferguson has appeared in six games for L.A. thus far, pitching five innings and giving up no runs or hits. However, the 25-year-old has struggled with command, walking four batters in his brief sample on the mound.
Ferguson close to returning to Dodgers
Although Ferguson has not been happy with how the Dodgers have handled his injury, he is moving closer to a return.
The southpaw will likely throw live batting practice to Mookie Betts on Saturday, as the outfielder is rehabbing and closing in on his return. If all goes well with Ferguson, that should be his final step before being activated.
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