The Nationals introduced that left-hander Jose A. Ferrer has been reinstated from the 60-day injured listing. Righty Amos Willingham was optioned to Triple-A to open an lively roster spot. The Nats had two 40-man vacancies as a result of releasing infielder Nick Senzel and buying and selling proper Hunter Harvey to the Royals, so their rely now climbs from 38 to 39.
Ferrer, 24, suffered a left lat pressure throughout Spring Coaching and has spent the whole marketing campaign on the IL till now. That has prevented him from constructing off final yr’s main league debut. He tossed 34 innings for the Nats in 2023 with a 5.04 earned run common. His 17.6% strikeout fee was subpar however his 9.2% stroll fee was round common. He received floor balls at a powerful clip of 57.8% but in addition allowed 4 residence runs, a fee of 18.2% per fly ball.
Superior metrics thought he was a bit unfortunate to have his ERA that top. Maybe as a result of a comparatively excessive .333 batting common on balls in play, his FIP was 4.55. SIERA, which normalizes residence run charges, was much more bullish at 4.16.
Ferrer now slots into the membership’s bullpen, giving them a second lefty alongside Robert Garcia. There ought to be loads of alternatives for Washington relievers within the closing few months of the season. They already traded Harvey and will probably additionally flip Kyle Finnegan, Dylan Floro, Derek Legislation or Jacob Barnes by season’s finish, as nobody in that group is controllable past 2025.
That would give Ferrer a little bit of runway to make up for misplaced time. He nonetheless has a few choices and got here into 2024 with lower than a yr of service, so he might be a long-term piece for the Nats if he performs nicely sufficient to proceed holding a roster spot. He’s all the time been a floor ball man within the minors but in addition with extra punchouts than he confirmed within the majors final yr. Relationship again to the beginning of 2021, he has a 27% strikeout fee on the farm.
