Among the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most underrated contributors this season has been Caleb Ferguson, who earned a promotion to the Majors in June following numerous injuries to the starting rotation.
Ferguson initially cracked the Dodgers roster as a starting pitcher but has since moved to the bullpen, where he has established a swingman-type role for the club.
To date, the 22-year-old has logged nine appearances as a reliever, compiling multiple innings in all but one of those outings. He has recorded a pair of three-inning saves and recently helped solidify over the Atlanta Braves by piggybacking Clayton Kershaw with two innings of one-run ball.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been impressed with Ferguson’s performance and is growing more confident in deploying the left-hander in high-leverage situations, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“The game tells you how you respond and Caleb has passed every test we’ve given to him,” said Roberts. “Started out as a length guy in non-leverage, then a length guy in some leverage and now to see him more frequently in shorter spurts, I can see that. Today was another good test that he passed. I like his ability to throw strikes — [he] attacks, misses bats and I like his pulse.”
While Ferguson has made it clear that he prefers to start, Roberts sees more value in him continuing to serve as a reliever for the time being.
Out of the bullpen, Ferguson has posted a minuscule 1.29 ERA and 0.76 WHIP while holding opponents to a feeble .179/.210/.308 battling line over 21 innings pitched. That’s compared to a 7.59 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 10.2 innings across three starts.
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