A Role That Makes Sense for Caleb Ferguson With Pirates (+)
The Pittsburgh Pirates officially announced the signing of their first external free agent on Friday. Caleb Ferguson signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Pirates after passing his physical.
Ferguson split the 2024 season between two prominent American League teams in the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Though the left-hander didn’t get very good results with the Yankees, a midseason trade to Houston sparked success.
In 20 appearances with the Astros, Ferguson posted a solid 3.86 ERA which was paired by a robust 2.88 FIP. Ferguson, who has been a high-strikeout pitcher for most of his career, punched out 26 batters in 21 innings with Houston and recorded 67 strikeouts in 54.1 innings on the year.
From the Pirates’ end, the signing is a logical one. At the time of his deal, the Pirates had only two left-handed pitchers on the roster. Bailey Falter is the lone left-hander in the starting rotation. The other is Joey Wentz, a late-season waiver claim who had success in a small sample but has had uninspiring results in his MLB career.
The Pirates also needed to add to an underwhelming bullpen. Pittsburgh ranked 27th with a 4.49 ERA in 2024. What was supposed to be a strength of the team was not.
Though much of Ferguson’s experience has come in a traditional relief role, he could be used in other ways in 2025.
The Pirates could look to stretch Ferguson out as a starting pitcher in spring training, a source with knowledge of the deal told Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
It wouldn’t be a completely new concept for Ferguson, who has starters experience in the minor leagues and has made a handful of starts in the big leagues, though mostly as an opener.
Given the Pirates’ trade of Luis Ortiz to land first baseman Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians, bringing in starting pitching depth is important. But should that starting pitching depth come from a pitcher who doesn’t have a recent track record of being used as a starting pitcher? Probably not.
The Pirates’ rotation heading into 2025 looks strong. The unit is headlined by the uber-talented Paul Skenes. He’s followed by Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, Falter and Johan Oviedo, who is set to return from Tommy John surgery.
While using Ferguson in a regular relief role makes the most sense, if the intent is to stretch him out more in spring training, there is a better role for Ferguson.
Remember Josh Fleming? He made just 25 appearances for the Pirates last season and was twice DFA’d, but he did get pretty good results when he was on the mound.
Of Fleming’s 25 appearances, three were at the beginning of the game, nine were at the end and the other 13 were in the middle. Additionally, nine of his 25 appearances were multiple innings, including a start that went into the fifth inning on June 16 in Colorado.
That’s what make sense for Ferguson with the Pirates, at least more sense than using him as a traditional starting pitcher.
As potentially the lone left-hander in the bullpen, the Pirates will have to carefully choose how they use him in games. There could be situations where it makes sense to use him early, late or anywhere in between. That also leads to a separate discussion in that Ben Cherington should think about adding another lefty reliever into the equation. We’ll table that for now.
Regardless, a Fleming-type role makes sense for Ferguson in 2025. But the Pirates are hoping Ferguson’s time in Pittsburgh lasts longer than Fleming’s time last year.
Ferguson’s Bread and Butter
In getting to know the newest Pirates’ pitcher, keep in mind his best pitch. Ferguson threw a cutter in 26% of his offerings — a total of 249 times in 2024. The pitch generated a 33.6 whiff percentage and a minuscule .130 batting average.
If it continues to be that effective, the cutter should be a pitch he features even more in his first season in Pittsburgh.
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