Dodgers Prospect Wins Prestigious Monthly Award

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 7, 2024

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system brought home a couple of awards for the first week of August including left-handed pitching prospect Jackson Ferris winning the Midwest League pitcher of the week.

Ferries earned the recognition after flirting with a no-hitter for High-A Great Lakes.

When the Dodgers acquired Ferris in their January deal with the Cubs, they had a feeling he could reach new heights inside their system. They might have been correct.

Ferris was rewarded with a promotion to Double-A Tulsa on August 2.

Top #Dodgers LHP prospect Jackson Ferris was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Month today.

Ferris, who was recently promoted to Double-A, posted a 1.04 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and .135 AVG against across his final 26 innings in High-A. pic.twitter.com/Us5GPJYmxv

— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) August 6, 2024

Loons Manager Jair Fernandez said Ferris was an outstanding player and he can’t wait to see him continue to grow on his way towards the big leagues.

“I mean I’m very proud. That’s the goal here you know? The goal is to see all these young ball players at some point get promoted,” said Fernandez. “That’s the really exciting part about coaching. When you see guys that get moved up and keep working their way up to the big leagues which is like the ultimate goal for all these ball players.”

The second-year player took a no-hit bid through eight innings on Aug. 1. He then watched his bullpen fall short in the ninth.

“I just feel like at the beginning of the game I was trying to get all four pitches in the zone: fastball, slider, curveball, changeup,” the Dodgers' No. 6 prospect said. “Second inning goes by and I had a better feel for my changeup than I’ve had in a little bit, same thing for my curveball, and right now, my fastball and slider feel really well. I was able to get all four in the zone, and that was really good.”

Ferris walked four but that doesn't diminish what he was able to accomplish with just 98 pitches. He also struck out six and retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced.

"If I go out there and do what I’m supposed to do, I have a good chance of giving my team a chance to win."#Dodgers prospect Jackson Ferris did that and then some Thursday, spinning eight hitless innings for the @greatlakesloons: https://t.co/bqHvA06hOX pic.twitter.com/qhJY24emdS

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 2, 2024

The 20-year-old tried to persuade the coaching staff to let him go back out for the ninth but he was on a 100-pitch limit and was two shy of reaching it. The eight innings were already a new career-high for him as well.

Ferris said Loons pitching coach David Anderson told him he is the first pitcher he’s coached at the level allowed to operate with a triple-digit pitch count.

“For the last month, I’ve had a pitch count that I hadn’t really heard of before,” he said. “I want to go as deep in the game as I possibly can.”

So far this year, Ferris is 4-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 20 starts with 119 strikeouts in 98.1 innings for Great Lakes in his first season in the organization.