Dodgers notes: Caleb Ferguson frustrated, Freddie Freeman returns to Atlanta

Dodgers left-hander Caleb Ferguson was placed on the 15-day injured list on Monday to get down to the MLB-mandated 13-pitcher limit on the active roster. Left forearm tendinitis was the culprit for Ferguson, with soreness that would have hindered his usage during a stretch of 20 games in 20 days.

The move frustrated Ferguson, who talked to Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times about a pattern of miscommunication with the team dating back to his rehab from Tommy John surgery, and even his first call-up this year, in May, that lasted only one day.

From Harris:

“I went through a longer rehab process than what I thought — and not really by choice, but that was what the team thought was best for me,” said Ferguson, who is contractually under team control for two more seasons. “I did it. I shut my mouth and did it. And I feel like we’re kind of going back on with that.”

For the most part, this can be filed under “Player wants to play, Film at 11,” but it is notable for an organization that is rightfully lauded for its communication, and that Ferguson went public with it.

Before his elbow injury in 2020, Ferguson worked his way into a trusted role as a late-inning, high-leverage reliever, second on the team in strikeout rate (36 percent) while walking only four percent of his batters faced.

So far this season, Ferguson in the majors has pitched five scoreless innings with no hits allowed in six appearances, with four walks and five strikeouts. In Triple-A Oklahoma City, the left-hander had a 7.36 ERA in 10 games, with 13 strikeouts (a 35-percent strikeout rate) in 7⅓ innings.

He has pitched on back-to-back days only once this season, on May 27-28 in Triple-A, facing one batter in the second outing.

Links

• Freddie Freeman talked with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register about the first baseman’s long-awaited return to Atlanta this weekend. “I want to win so I’ve got to do my part to win these games. But there’s going to be a lot of tearing up,” Freeman said.
• Nick Nastrini, the Dodgers’ fourth-round draft pick in 2021, talked about overcoming the yips while at UCLA with Zach Buchanan at The Athletic. Nastrini has a 4.63 ERA and 35.7-percent strikeout rate in 13 starts for high-A Great Lakes this season.
• Ginny Searle at Baseball Prospectus analyzed the Dodgers recent outfield additions trying to fill a Mookie Betts-sized hole.
• Dan Szymborski at FanGraphs tried to find the most irreplaceable players in the National League.