A plethora of injuries to the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation opened the door for pitching prospect Caleb Ferguson, who made his MLB debut much sooner than anticipated.
The left-hander didn’t expect to advance past Double-A Tulsa this season, let alone making stops in both Triple-A Oklahoma City and the Dodgers. Nevertheless, he has progressed with each of his three outings thus far.
Ferguson was on track to make a fourth start for the Dodgers on Saturday against the New York Mets, but that instead is going to Clayton Kershaw who initially was penciled for a rehab assignment with Oklahoma City.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes Ferguson has steadily improved with consistency, due in part to his extended run at the Major League level, Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“We’re giving Caleb a nice little runway. I think that’s important,” Roberts said. “I think him being around our ballclub for a couple weeks in a row has helped him. … I think Caleb has gotten better in each of his starts. We expect him to continue to get better. The game has slowed down for him a little bit.”
After a rough debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he allowed four runs over 1.2 innings pitched, Ferguson has rebounded by going deeper in each of his previous two outings.
In three starts for the Dodgers, Ferguson has compiled a 7.59 ERA, 5.53 FIP and 1.41 WHIP across 10.2 innings pitched. He is striking out over 10 batters per nine but has additionally struggled with the home run ball, yielding nearly two per nine as well.
Although Ferguson was squeezed out of another start, he’s remaining on the active roster and will be available to pitch in relief of Kershaw on Saturday.
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