After missing 20 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, 25-year-old Dodgers left-hander Caleb Ferguson is back.

…and he rocked.

“Couldn’t really feel the ball in my hand, kind of almost felt like I was making my debut again,” Ferguson told reporters after the Dodgers 5-4 win over the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Monday night, and his first appearance since Sept. 15, 2020. “But really happy to be back; a lot of hard work that went into it, but just got to keep chipping away, keep getting better.”

The Columbus, OH native and Dodgers 38th-round draft pick in 2014 out of West Jefferson High School in West Jefferson, OH entered the game in the top of the seventh inning, with the Dodgers up 5-2. He ended up walking D-backs left fielder David Peralta, stuck out shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (who swung so hard on strike-three that he fell down), got center fielder Alek Thomas to ground into a force out, and got pinch-hitter Jordan Luplow to ground out to third base, for a scoreless/hitless inning of work.

“That’s one of those things when you’re on a rehab program, one part of it is trying to get healthy and show you’re healthy but the other part is you get closer to the end, you’ve got to perform and get guys out,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “The last couple outings have been considerably better, and I think right now he’s in a good spot mentally and physically.”

In his three seasons with the Dodgers, Ferguson went 10–5 with a 3.93 ERA and 140 strikeouts in the 96 games in which he appeared from 2018–2020. In 2020, his best season as a Dodger, he posted a 2.89 ERA and struck out 27 batters, for an excellent WHIP of 1.02.

Roberts said that Ferguson is capable of going back-to-back at some point during Tuesday’s doubleheader against Arizona.

“We certainly trust him,” Roberts said.

Play Ball!

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