Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ hard-throwing lefty and his role in the bullpen…
Jose A. Ferrer started the 2024 campaign on the IL after suffering a strained teres major muscle in his upper back in Spring Training, and the 23-year-old southpaw didn’t pitch in the majors until mid-July, but in an abbreviated season, he made a strong impression on Davey Martinez.
In 31 games and 32 innings pitched on the year, Ferrer, who signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2017, put up a 3.38 ERA, 2.76 FIP, six walks (1.69 BB/9), 25 Ks (7.03 K/9), and a .227/.271/.277 line against overall.
Ferrer held left-handed hitters to, “a .167 opponents’ average (7-for-42) with one extra-base hit (3B) this season,” as the Nationals noted in their 2024 Season in Review, “… with left-handed hitters, “2-for-22 (.091) with six strikeouts and no walks in his last 15 appearances while facing a left-handed batter.”
Ferrer also put up, “a 1.42 ERA (4 ER/25.1 IP) with 19 strikeouts and two walks from Aug. 10-end of the season,” and during that stretch his manager talked often about the progress he saw the reliever making.
“I thought when he first got hurt, and they told me what it was, he was going to miss a very long time,” Martinez said in mid-September. “But he’s a strong kid. He worked really hard to come back. And the best thing is, he didn’t lose any of his velo.”
Ferrer’s sinker, which he threw 58.8% of the time, averaged 97.9 MPH, and opposing hitters hit just .247 on the pitch, and he mixed in a changeup (19.1%; 88.3 MPH; .227 BAA), his four-seamer (16.6%; 98.3 MPH; .235 BAA), and the occasional slider (5.5%; 88.0 MPH; .000 BAA).
“Everything’s intact,” Martinez continued.
“He’s understanding he has to maintain his strength throughout the season. He does all his work in the training room, and his legs are strong.
“I’m really happy that he bounced back the way he did.”
Ferrer earned his first save in the majors a few days after those comments, boosting his own confidence and Martinez’s confidence in him.
“I’ve always told him that if he can control the strike zone and throw strikes, that he can pitch in high-leverage situations,” Martinez said after the save.
“He’s got an unbelievable fastball, a lot of movement, changeup is really, really good, so with those two elite pitches, as long as he’s around the zone, he’s really good.
“And tonight he was just pumping strikes. Fastballs were down, sink, changeup was really good, effective.”
Asked a couple days later about the left-hander’s ceiling, Martinez said he could see Ferrer continuing to pitch in high-leverage situations going forward in a late-inning role.
“I think he definitely — if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’s a back end of the bullpen guy.
“I look at him now and there’s not too many lefties coming out and throwing like him. The only one I can remember is [Josh] Hader.”
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
“He’s done well,” the skipper added.
“The biggest thing with him is the ability for him to throw strikes right now and throw his fastball for strikes, and he’s got confidence, he’s got a lot of confidence right now, and I love that about him.”
“When I first got here, I had some bad outings,” Ferrer said, as quoted by MASN writer Mark Zuckerman in September.
“And I was able to keep working hard and focus on the strike zone.
“I think that helped me a lot and gained some confidence.”
Over the final weekend of the season, the Nationals’ manager was fielding questions about Ferrer potentially closing for the club in the future, and he did not dismiss the possibility it is where Ferrer could end up.
“I definitely see him as potentially pitching high-leverage situations at the back end of the bullpen,” Martinez said.
“He’s done really well. I’ve been giving him more opportunities to do that and he’s done really well. Can I see him develop into something else? Possibly, yeah. He’s tough.
“He’s tough on lefties and righties. He’s done really well.
“He’s come a long way. The injury he had earlier, we weren’t too sure when he was going to pitch again, but he worked his way back and he’s doing really well now.”
jose a. ferrer finishes inning strong with strikeout pic.twitter.com/Nq6SPcvKTl
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 28, 2024
Asked then why Ferrer’s sinker is so effective, Martinez said to keep the sinker talk on the hush-hush.
“I don’t know if he knows he throws a sinker, he just throws the ball, and it’s very hard, and the ball has very good horizontal break on it, yeah. But it’s very effective, yeah. The reason why I say that, I don’t want to start putting things in his head, and all of a sudden he says, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to throw a sinker.’ Next thing you know he’s throwing bowling balls, so he’s doing well, yeah.”