Caleb Paul Ferguson (born July 2, 1996) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

Amateur career

Ferguson attended West Jefferson High School in West Jefferson, Ohio. As a senior in 2014, he underwent

Tommy John Surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

. Despite the injury, he was drafted by the

in the 38th round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He signed with the Dodgers, forgoing his commitment to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

Professional career

Ferguson made his professional debut in 2015, with the

Arizona League Dodgers The Arizona Complex League Dodgers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The team is compos ...

and spent the whole season there, pitching to a 0–3 record and 8.59 ERA in 14.2 innings. In 2016, he played for the Arizona League Dodgers, Ogden Raptors and Great Lakes Loons, compiling a 3–4 record and 2.31 ERA in 14 games (12 starts). He pitched 2017 with the

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and play their home games at LoanMart Field. The franc ...

where he was 9–4 with a 2.87 ERA in 25 games (24 starts). Ferguson started 2018 with the

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

and was promoted to the Oklahoma City Dodgers during the season. Ferguson was called up to the majors by the Dodgers to make his debut as the starting pitcher against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

on June 6, 2018. He hit the first batter he faced and wound up allowing four runs on three hits with three walks, three strikeouts and two hit batters in only 1 innings. He picked up his first career MLB win on June 23 against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

with four scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Ferguson recorded his first career save on July 2, 2018 against the

, pitching three scoreless innings to end a 17-1 blowout. Ferguson became a key member of the Dodgers' bullpen in the second half of the season. He had one of the best ERAs of any relievers, and had the highest percentage of pitches in the strike zone of any Dodger reliever. He was 7–2 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 games (three starts). He was effective in the playoffs, allowing no hits or runs in three innings over six appearances, but was left off the World Series roster. In 2019, he pitched in 46 games for the Dodgers with a 1–2 record and 4.84 ERA, while making two starts. In mid-September 2020, Ferguson suffered damage to his ulnar collateral ligament and underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, for the second time in his life. He pitched in 21 games during the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

-shortened season, and was 2–1 with a 2.89 ERA. On February 19, 2021, Ferguson was placed on the 60-day injured list as he continued to recover from Tommy John surgery. Ferguson rejoined the major league roster in the 2022 season, where he pitched in 37 games and allowed seven runs in innings for a 1.82 ERA. On January 13, 2023, Ferguson agreed to a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Dodgers, avoiding salary arbitration.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Caleb 1996 births Living people Baseball players from Columbus, Ohio Major League Baseball pitchers Los Angeles Dodgers players Arizona League Dodgers players Ogden Raptors players Great Lakes Loons players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Tulsa Drillers players Oklahoma City Dodgers players