Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ left-hander’s breakout campaign…
Signed as a free agent out of Venezuela in 2017, Jose A. Ferrer debuted in the majors in 2023, and this past season, the 23-year-old left-hander stepped up as part of the major league bullpen and worked his way into high-leverage innings by the end of his second campaign with the Nationals.
A left lat strain suffered in Spring Training kept Ferrer out until mid-July, but once he was back, he impressed.
“I thought when he first got hurt, and they told me what it was, he was going to miss a very long time,” manager Davey Martinez said on September 12th, noting how the injury and his recovery ended up providing a lesson for the southpaw.
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“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. Everything’s intact. 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.”
Some highlights from Ferrer’s 2024 run (via Washington’s official Season in Review):
- Pitched to a 1.42 ERA (4 ER/25.1 IP) with 19 strikeouts and two walks from Aug. 10-end of the season.”
- Tossed 12.0 scoreless innings from Aug. 10 to Sept. 3
- Lefties hit .167 (7-for-42) against him in 2024.
- Did not allow a homer until his last outing, Sept. 28 vs. Philadelphia…Was 1 of 3 relievers with at least 30.0 IP to not allow a HR at that point.
“I think he definitely — if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s a back end of the bullpen guy,” Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez told reporters in mid-September, shortly after Ferrer earned his first save in the majors.
“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.”
“He’s done well, 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.”
Ferrer threw 58.8% sinkers, holding opposing hitters to a .247 AVG on the pitch, mixing in a changeup (19.1%; 88.3 MPH; .227 BAA), four-seam fastball (16.6%; 98.3 MPH; .235 BAA), and slider (5.5%; 88 MPH; .000 BAA).
Why was Ferrer’s sinker so good? Hold on a minute …
“I don’t know if he knows he throws a sinker,” Martinez joked with reporters in the final days of the regular season.
“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,” about not knowing if Ferrer throws a sinker, “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.”
Ferrer did well enough that Martinez gave him two save opportunities down the stretch, and he said over the final weekend he could see the lefty getting more in the future.
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“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.”