The Cincinnati Reds further bolstered their bullpen on Tuesday afternoon by agreeing to a one-year major league contract with lefty Caleb Ferguson. As of the time of publishing, the details of the deal were not yet disclosed, and the deal itself is still pending a physical.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was first to relay the news.
Ferguson excelled for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and
Seattle Mariners in 2025, combining for a 3.58 ERA (3.26 FIP) across 65.1 IP. His one-time elite strikeout rate (career mark of 10.8 per 9 IP entering 2025) plummetted to just 7.03 last year, though that coincided directly with a change of approach on the bump altogether. His hard-hit rate crashed down to just 20.9%, per FanGraphs, after hovering between 27.9% and 41.0% in previous years, and his 84.8 mph average exit velocity ranked in the 99th percentile according to Statcast.
That’s all come with a fundamental change in his pitch arsenal, too. Back in 2020 he threw his four-seam fastball as much as 79.3% of the time, but that had dipped to just 31.6% in 2025 as he began to heavily mix in each of his cutter, sinker, and curveball, too. The sinker in particular (23.2% usage after not being in his arsenal at all prior to 2024) has helped evolve his entire approach, and it’s likely no coincidence that he’s increased that pitch’s usage while inducing a ton of weak contact in lieu of trying to simply throw it by people.
Ferguson, who’ll turn 30 in July, is also – you guessed it – an Ohio native, having been drafted back in 2014 by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of West Jefferson High School. He’ll help fill the void left by Brent Suter, Taylor Rogers, Reiver Sanmartin, and Joe La Sorsa, all lefties who saw time at the big league level in the Reds bullpen during the 2025 season who are no longer within the organization. He’ll pair with Sam Moll (barring any further LHP additions) to form the southpaw options heading into 2026.
