Sunday Notes: Caleb Ferguson is Effectively a Square Peg in a Round Dodgers Hole

Caleb Ferguson is far from the biggest name on a Los Angeles Dodgers team that won 100 games during the regular season. Much for that reason, people who don’t closely follow the perennial NL West powerhouse probably don’t know how effective he’s been. To little fanfare, the 27-year-old southpaw made 68 appearances and went 7-4 with three saves while posting a 3.43 ERA and a 3.34 FIP over 60-and-a-third innings. Moreover, his numbers were even better if you discount the seven times he served as an opener. As a reliever, Ferguson won seven of nine decisions with a 3.02 ERA and a 3.07 FIP. His K-rate out of the pen was a tasty 27.5%.

Home cooking has been to his liking. Pitching at Chavez Ravine — Dodger Stadium if you will — the Columbus, Ohio native logged a sparkling 1.10 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a paltry .190/.258/.267 slash line.

Those things said, Ferguson is a square peg in a round hole when it comes to one of the organization’s well-known strengths. Analytics aren’t his thing.

“I guess it has the characteristics of a high-spin fastball,” Ferguson replied when I asked about the movement profile of his mid-90s four-seamer, a pitch he relied on 66.5% of the time this year. “But I don’t really look at the metrics, to be honest. I just come in and try to make good pitches. More than anything, I try to throw the ball in the safest spot to each guy. When I look at scouting reports, it’s basically just the safe zones and the danger zones.”

Ferguson likewise claimed not to know the metrics on his 33.5 percent-usage slider (Baseball Savant classifies the pitch as a cutter). Nor is he interested in knowing.

“When I was first learning it, [pitching coach Mark Prior] came up to me,” recalled Ferguson. “He asked, ‘What do you want numbers-wise on your slider?’ I said ‘I don’t care what the numbers are, I just want 87 [mph] or harder and this.’ I showed him my fingers — how I wanted it to move like a normal slider — and that’s what we chased. They might be able to tell you what they were trying to chase. All I was trying to chase was the throw.

“I think I’m better when I avoid the numbers,” continued Ferguson, who had thrown a slider prior to having Tommy John surgery in 2020, only to shelve it until his arm slot got back to where it needed to be this spring. “But if you’re a guy who is into the numbers game, this is definitely a great place to play. They’re going to be able to give you anything you want.”

His appreciation of how the team crunches data belies his disinterest in learning what’s behind the curtain. As a matter of fact, he credits much of his success to just that.

“A lot goes into who the manager lets you face,” explained Ferguson. “Doc [Dave Roberts], as well as everybody involved in the decision-making, is really good at putting us into the right spots. That’s why all of the guys in our bullpen have so much success. We’re not going to face hitters we don’t match up well against, or be asked to do something we don’t normally do.”

That includes trying to turn him into a pitching nerd.

“I’m probably one of the few guys left in the game who thinks like I think,” said Ferguson. “I don’t fully understand analytics — I mean, I do know some — but what matters to me is getting outs. If I need something, the Dodgers will point me in the right direction.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Nick Markakis went 5 for 6 against Drew Pomeranz.

Red Nonnenkamp went 3 for 6 against Boots Poffenberger.

Hiram Bocachica went 1 for 6 against Esteban Loaiza.

Phillip Ervin went 4 for 5 against Gio González.

Johnny Giavotella went 4 for 4 against Danny Farquhar.

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Who will replace Chaim Bloom at the top of Boston’s front office structure was a frequent topic when manager Alex Cora and CEO Sam Kennedy fielded questions during their postseason press conference at Fenway Park. One response from Kennedy caused me to raise an eyebrow. Addressing the desirability of the position, he said the following about the forthcoming interview process:

“We’d spend a lot of time going through, year by year, personnel move by personnel move — whatever it takes to explain with candor and honesty every single thing that’s happened here since 2002 — if candidates want to go back and do that.”

Kennedy had earlier punted on a question, saying that he didn’t want to give the competition any insights on what was happening under the hood. Hence a conundrum. As nearly all of the executives who will be interviewed are employed by other clubs, how does one go about balancing candor and confidentiality?

“That’s a great question,” Kennedy responded to my inquiry. “There is a risk when you share information about your organization, the inner workings of your organization. It’s a calculated risk that you need to take in the right situation if you think it’s going to ultimately help the Boston Red Sox. So, it is a balance.”

Cora provided a similarly-vague answer when I asked about the team’s ongoing issues with fundamentals. Following the 2021 season, one that saw the team exceed expectations by reaching the ALCS, Cora admitted that shortcomings in that area needed to be addressed. Two years later, the problem undeniably persists. Defensive faux pas and base-running blunders have remained all too frequent.

Does the blame lie with the coaching staff, or is it more about the personnel the staff has to work with?

“We just had a meeting an hour ago with our coaching staff,” replied Cora. “The tone of the conversation was that we have to find ways to improve our players. [We] have to be willing to adjust what we’ve tried to do the last few years in order to be better. It’s in batting practice. More batting machines. Trying to put our infielders in comfortable situations so they can be better defensively. Working the first step — stuff we have done the last few years with Raffy [Rafael Devers] and Xander [Bogaerts]. There are a lot of things we have to do as a staff to improve.”

Following up, I asked Cora if changes to the coaching staff are necessary in order for those improvements to happen.

“I don’t believe so,” said Cora. “I just think we have to be better. We have to be willing to talk to people and adjust our routines.”

OK then. It isn’t the personnel so much as it is the coaching staff… yet the coaching staff isn’t the issue. Color me skeptical that improvements are forthcoming without changes.

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A quiz:

Who was the first Black player to lead either the American League or the National League in home runs?

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

Matt Shepard won’t be returning as the TV play-by-play voice of the Detroit Tigers next season. The longtime Michigan-sports-media personality had served in that role since 2019.

Maybelle Blair has been selected as the 2023 SABR Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award winner. More information can be found here.

Wayne Comer, who played for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Pilots, Washington Senators, and Milwaukee Brewers in a career that spanned the 1967-1972 seasons, died earlier this week at age 79. A backup outfielder on the 1968 World Series champion Tigers, Comer singled in his lone Fall Classic plate appearance.

Jim Poole, a left-handed pitcher who pitched for eight teams in a career that spanned the 1990-2000 seasons, has died at age 57. Reportedly diagnosed with ALS two years ago, the Georgia Tech product had a 4.31 ERA over 431 games, all as a reliever. He was credited with 22 wins and four saves.

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The answer to the quiz is Larry Doby, who hit an AL-best 32 home runs with the Cleveland Indians in 1952. Four years earlier, Doby became the first Black player to homer in the World Series.

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Daryl Boston is one of four Chicago White Sox coaches who won’t be returning to Pedro Grifol’s staff next season. He had hoped to come back. When I spoke to the 60-year-old former outfielder in late September, he told me that he hoped to coach for a few more years, but only with the organization he’s long called home. The idea of latching on with another team didn’t appeal to him.

Unlike the majority of his playing-days peers, Boston found a certain amount of appeal in facing a right-hander who befuddled hitters with butterflies for two-plus decades.

“Ooh, that was kind of my thing,” Boston replied when I asked why he’d had so much success against knuckleballers. “I don’t know why I was good at it. I had a long swing — it took me awhile to get my bat through the zone — but I got my very first hit off of Charlie Hough. My first home run was also off Charlie Hough.“

Aware of those facts when I asked the question, I proceeded to remind Boston that his first three hits — in his first three big-league plate appearances, no less — had come against Hough. As it turns out, the first was actually on a fastball.

“It was a triple on a 3-2 pitch,” Boston recalled of the May 13, 1984 contest at Comiskey Park. “He didn’t want to walk me, so he threw a fastball. The other two hits were on knuckleballs. I think the home run was on a knuckleball, as well.”

All told, Boston had 15 hits against Hough — his most against any hurler — in 39 at-bats. The level of success didn’t go unnoticed.

“I remember the umpire giving me a close pitch against him one time,” Boston said with a laugh. “Hough shouted, ‘You can’t give that guy a pitch!’ I think he knew how I hit him.”

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) released its Men’s Baseball World Rankings this week, with Japan on top, followed by the USA. The complete list can be found here.

The Hanshin Tigers, who boast the best record in NPB’s Central League, have NPB’s highest average home attendance at 41,064. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who are in fourth place in NPB’s six-team Pacific League, have the lowest average home attendance at 18,672.

Suguru Fukuda has made 29 scoreless appearances for NPB’s Nippon-Ham Fighters. The 28-year-old left-hander augments his 0.00 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 11 hits allowed in 26-and-a-third innings. He has a win in his only decision.

Munetaka Murakami, who dominated NPB to the tune of a .318/.458/.711 slash line and 56 home runs a year ago, is having a far-more-modest 2023. The 23-year-old Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger is slashing .256/.375/.500 with 31 home runs.

Casey Kelly is 10-7 with a 3.83 ERA for the KBO’s LG Twins. The 34-year-old erstwhile MLB hurler — Boston’s first-round pick in the 2008 draft — is 68-38 with a 3.08 ERA in five seasons with the Seoul, South Korea club.

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On May 12 of last year, I penned an article titled A Poor Man’s Rod Carew, Luis Arraez is in Line to Win a Batting Title. Quoted within were several people who felt that was a strong possibility. A few of them even brought up Carew as a comp — not in terms of Hall-of-Fame-level excellence, but rather as a stylistically similar player who can stroke line drives with the best of them.

My column was predictably met with skepticism. One commenter said that not only wasn’t Arraez currently leading the league, he wasn’t even in the Top 10. Another wrote, “I can’t say I think he’ll do it going forward,” adding that “This whole thing is weird.”

Those comments were by no means wrong-minded. At the time, Arraez was a 24-year-old Minnesota Twins infielder with just over 1,000 MLB plate appearances and a career batting average just north of .310. While obviously a talented young hitter, he had yet to establish batting title bona fides.

Seventeen months later, the now-Miami Marlin has led each of the American and National leagues in the once-ballyhooed category, while his slash line over the past two seasons is a Carew-like .335/.384/.445. Much as the people I spoke to for the article suggested, Arraez was truly in line to win a batting title.

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FARM NOTES

Troy Johnston drove in 116 runs this year, the most in the minors. The 26-year-old first baseman in the Miami Marlins organization slashed .307/.399/.549 with 26 home runs between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville.

Jacob Hurtubise slashed .330/.479/.482 with seven home runs between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville. The 25-year-old outfielder in the Cincinnati Reds system drew 77 walks and fanned 63 times in 455 plate appearances.

Connor Norby had 100 singles and 64 extra-base hits, including 21 home runs, with Triple-A Norfolk. The 23-year-old second baseman/outfielder in the Baltimore Orioles organization slashed .290/.359/.483.

Michael McGreevy allowed 177 hits, the most in the minors among pitchers 30 years old and younger. The 23-year-old right-hander in the St. Louis Cardinals system went 13-6 with a 4.12 ERA over 153 innings between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. He issued 38 walks and logged 123 strikeouts.

Keywill Cedeno went 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA for the Colorado Rockies’ Dominican Summer League entry. The 18-year-old right-hander out of Carupano, Venezuela surrendered 34 hits, issued 12 free passes, and fanned 31 batters.

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The Red Sox should, and hopefully will, retire Tim Wakefield’s number. Few players have represented the organization, on and off the field, better than the knuckleballer who died of brain cancer last Sunday at age 58. MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award winner in 2010, Wakefield spent countless hours supporting humanitarian efforts, most notably at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund pediatric unit, both during and after a playing career that saw him win 200 games, all but 16 of them in a Boston uniform. His 3.006 innings pitched are the most in franchise history. Moreover, he was an invaluable contributor to 2004 and 2007 Red Sox teams that captured World Series titles.

Tim Wakefield is among the most-respected figures in Boston sports history. His number 49 belongs on Fenway Park’s right-field facade alongside those of the 10 Red Sox icons (and Jackie Robinson) who have previously been honored. He is more than deserving.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MLB.com’s Molly Burkhardt wrote about how Red Sox rookie Triston Casas’s unconventional routines gained respect in the clubhouse.

Steve Mancuso took a sequential look at Joey Votto’s storied career for Reds Content Plus.

Kole Calhoun returned to the minors and spent time with four organizations this season to attain a goal of reaching 10 years of MLB service time. Jerry Crasnick talked to him about it for the Major League Baseball Players Association.

At The Detroit News, Tony Paul wrote about how former Tigers broadcaster Mario Impemba, despite the wishes of many fans, isn’t interested in returning to his old job. (subscription required)

Is the postseason game too different from the regular season? Travis Sawchik tackled that question at The Score.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. had 41 home runs, 188 strikeouts, and 76 walks in 2019. This year he had 41 home runs, 84 strikeouts, and 80 walks.

Chicago’s Luis Robert Jr. had 27 solo home runs this year, the most in White Sox franchise history. Albert Belle had 26 solos in 1998.

Oakland Athletics pitchers combined for 100 HBP’s this year, the most of any team. Detroit Tigers pitchers combined for 50 HBP’s, the fewest of any team.

New York Yankees pitchers were charged with 15 balks, the most of any team. Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bays pitchers were each charged with one balk, the fewest of any team.

The Arizona Diamondbacks had 166 home runs and 166 stolen bases. The Kansas City Royals had 163 home runs and 163 stolen bases.

Robin Roberts pitched 300 or more innings every year from 1950-1955. The Philadelphia Phillies right-hander made 232 starts and logged 138 wins and 161 complete games over that six year stretch. He came out of the bullpen 21 times and had 14 saves.

On today’s date in 1972, Athletics infielder Bert Campaneris hurled his bat at Detroit Tigers reliever Lerrin LaGrow after being plunked by a pitch in Oakland’s 5-0 win in Game 2 of the ALCS. Campy was summarily sent to the showers.

On today’s date in 1966, Wally Bunker threw the second of three consecutive complete-game shutouts as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 in Game 3 of that year’s World Series. The only two runs the Dodgers scored in the four-game sweep came in the first three innings of Game 1.

Players born on today’s date include Mike Chris, a left-handed pitcher who went 3-5 with a 6.43 ERA while appearing in 29 games for the Detroit Tigers and the San Francisco Giants from 1979-1983. Chris had a no-hitter through six innings in his first MLB start before surrendering a double to Kansas City’s Hal McRae.

Also born on today’s date was Ping Bodie, an outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and New York Yankees in an MLB career that spanned the 1911-1921 seasons. A Bay Area native whose given name was Francesco Stephano Pezzolo, he blasted 30 home runs for the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals in 1910.