July 18th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman Caleb Ferguson was selected by the Dodgers in the 38th round of the 2014 MLB First Year Player Draft. He was the 1,149th overall pick meaning that only 66 players were selected after him in the 40-round draft.
Ferguson, a 6′-3″ / 215-pound left-hander, attended West Jefferson High School in West Jefferson, Ohio – a community with a population of less than 5,000. He initially committed to attend West Virginia University following his high school graduation. West Virginia is in the early stages of building a new stadium and he was excited to be one of the first recruiting classes to play on the new field.
Ferguson had been approached by other universities who were attempting to recruit him to their baseball programs. In an interview with Prep Baseball Report he explained the thinking behind his decision to attend West Virginia University: “I chose WVU because I feel like the coaching staff has a lot to offer and I like their philosophy. Being their first year, they had a great first season and I think they are going to build on that. WVU also has great facilities and solid academics and lots of majors to choose from. I have to say the scholarship also helped me choose them of course!”
Caleb Ferguson
(Photo courtesy of @Im__Ferg)
In his senior year with the West Jefferson Roughriders his baseball statistics were impressive. As a hitter he had 28 hits in 67 at bats with eight doubles, two triples and one home run along with 26 RBI, a .418 batting average and a .462 OBP. As a pitcher he gave up nine hits in 23 innings while striking out 37 and walking 11. He was leading his team easily with an ERA of 1.22 and a WHIP of 0.87. Then his season and career hit a definite speed bump on his baseball path. In late May, after experiencing arm pain, he had Tommy John surgery and a very promising senior year was cut short by the surgeon’s knife.
His chances of being selected in the 2014 June Draft seemed to be rather remote but the Dodgers were apparently most interested in signing the hard throwing lefty. Upon learning he had been drafted by the Dodgers, Caleb Ferguson had another decision to make – university ball or professional ball. He quickly decided to sign with the Dodgers and begin his professional baseball career. A bonus might have been the opportunity to receive the rehabilitation from his surgery that a MLB team could offer.
Ferguson’s 2014 season did come crashing down with his Tommy John surgery but he resurfaced – perhaps more quickly than expected – with the AZL Dodgers on June 20, 2015. His season with the Dodgers was a bit slow as he pitched only 14.2 innings over 14 games. He struck out an impressive 16 hitters but has definite control problems coming off the surgery. He walked more than a batter an inning in 2015.
Ferguson was again assigned to the AZL Dodgers to begin the 2016 season and experienced much more success than in his previous year. In six innings he posted a 1.50 ERA and a WHIP of 0.67 while striking out 11 and issuing no walks.
His time with Dodgers was short-lived as he quickly earned a promotion to the Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League. Over two starts in which he pitched 10 innings, the 20-year-old Ferguson dominated in the rookie league posting a 0.90 ERA with a 0.60 WHIP. He struck out 11 and walked two.
His time with his new team was once again short-lived as he was promoted to the Class-A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League on July 16.
The Loons wasted no time in putting Ferguson to work. He made his Loons debut on Sunday, July 17, starting against the Peoria Chiefs. The Chiefs are an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and they handed Ferguson a loss in his first game as a Loon out-scored the Great Lakes squad 5-2.
However, Ferguson more than did his part. Over five innings of work he gave up seven hits – all of them singles – and two earned runs. The second run in the fifth inning scored when the Loons didn’t quite complete a 5-4-3 double play on a bang-bang play at first base. He struck out four hitters and issued no walks. Perhaps the most significant statistic on the evening for Ferguson was his ground ball to fly out ratio. It was a more than impressive 10/1.
Loons announcer Chris Vosters was likewise impressed, calling Ferguson “An intriguing pitcher to watch going forward in the second half.”
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IMO, one of the most important factors in pitching is challenging the hitters and not giving them free passes. It’s maddening to see the number of free passes Dodger pitchers give up that come back to score and bite them in the behind. From Blanton, to Baez, to Fien, to Hatcher, to Stripling, to Urias, to Maeda, to Kazmir, all give up too many BBs. I would really like to determine how many of those walks actually come around to score. It also cranks up the number of pitches and because pitch count seems to be the stat of the year, SP cannot get into late innings. Yes, Kershaw is the best pitcher on this or any other planet, but 9 walks in 121 IP keeps pitch count down, and runners off the bases. Compare that to Maeda (32 BB in 108 IP), and Kazmir (39 BB in 97.2 IP).
So while Caleb Ferguson got the L, he kept his team in the game with NO walks. Keeping the ball on the ground will help as he progresses, because those near miss 5-4-3 DP will become 5-4-3 DP and end an inning.
Admittedly, Caleb is not one that was on my radar, but I will now include him in my list (ever-growing) of players to follow.
You are so right about walks. Make them hit the ball. At least there is a chance of an out if they make contact.
I have followed Caleb since he was drafted even though he had to complete his rehab from TJ surgery. I tend to think if the Dodgers can sign a high school player in the last few rounds other teams have not taken the chance on signability. That way a few good arms are picked up, such as Caleb. This year Kevin Malisheski in the 38th round.