Ferguson thrives in bullpen but aims to start

Caleb Ferguson signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates on a promise that he would get a chance to be a starting pitcher but with the understanding that he was willing to perform in any role Most of the 28-year-old left-hander’s major league experience has come out of the bullpen, whether it was as an opener or in relief, so Ferguson emphasized his preference of pitching in the majors.

“I’ve always voiced that I wanted to be a starter but that I would do whatever it takes for me to stay in the big leagues and help a team win,” Ferguson told Trib-Live. “The best way to look at it for me is to be ready to go every day. Wherever the outs fall, they’re very important in a baseball game. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re in the third inning or the eighth inning. Every out is a very important out to win a ballgame.”

After pitching multiple innings in his first four appearances, including one start, for the Pirates this spring, Ferguson has found his footing with a pair of perfect innings in his past two Grapefruit League games. He had two strikeouts against the Detroit Tigers on Friday and struck out the side against the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was intrigued by Ferguson’s ability to pitch in multiple roles. He has pitched as an opener and in both long relief and leverage situations in his six-year career, posting a 3.43 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 60+ innings over 68 appearances in his first full season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023.

“When we signed him, we told him that we’d give him the opportunity to lengthen out,” Shelton said. “One of the things he’s shown in the past is the ability to pitch multiple innings. You can never have enough depth in that situation, so for a spring training look, it’s good to stretch guys out.”

One of the things that attracted the Pirates to Ferguson is that in five seasons with the Dodgers and last season split between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, he played primarily for winning teams. In nine postseason appearances, he hasn’t allowed a run or a hit, striking out five with two walks in 5+ innings.

“Step one to winning baseball games is creating winning culture,” Ferguson said. “I’ve been on some pretty good teams and I’m blessed to have been on those teams. I’d like to think I’m pretty lucky when it comes to that, where I fell in at. Anytime you can sign guys that have experience playing in October, it’s going to help, especially when you have a young core like we do in here.”

After a transient year, Ferguson hopes he’s found a home. The Dodgers traded him last February to the New York Yankees, where he appeared in 42 games. The Houston Astros acquired him at the trade deadline last July, and he posted a 3.86 ERA in 20 appearances. Those abrupt moves taught Ferguson about the business side of the game.

“The first time you get traded, it always sucks,” Ferguson told SporstNet Pittsburgh. “Then you realize it’s a business and you have to do your job, no matter what team you’re on. My job happens to be to get guys out. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

And Ferguson wants to do that better for the Pirates at PNC Park than he did in his debut with the Dodgers in June 2018, when he started and allowed four runs on two hits, three walks and two hit batsmen in 1+ innings of an 11-9 loss.

“I’m hoping all my outings at PNC go a little bit better than that one did,” Ferguson told SportsNet Pittsburgh. “I try to forget that one. Not a lot of positives there. I got my first strikeout (of David Freese), so that’s a positive. I remember that one and move on from the rest of it.”

In 11+ innings over six outings this spring, Ferguson is 1-0 with a 3.97 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 14 strikeouts against four walks with two hit batsmen. He ranks third on the Pirates in strikeouts, behind Paul Skenes (19) and Jared Jones (17).

Now, the Pirates have to decide where Ferguson fits. There’s a possibility they could employ a six-man rotation to start the season, using Ferguson in a multi-inning role. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder, whose fourpitch mix includes a fourseam fastball, cutter, slurve and sinker, is 0-4 with a 6.08 ERA in 14 career starts but 19-9 with a 3.44 ERA in 249 games as a reliever.

“More than anything, it’s getting ready for anything the team asks me to do,” Ferguson said. “The message when I was signed here and spoke with Shelty was, ‘I’m just here to win baseball games.’ Whatever role the team needs me to be in to help us do that, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m flexible. I’m going to try to stay ready to go every day.”