Mariners notebook: Caleb Ferguson gives another high-leverage lefty for stretch run

SEATTLE – With the Mariners acquisition of Caleb Ferguson, Gabe Speier at last has a left-handed friend out in the bullpen.

When Ferguson joined the Mariners in Sacramento last week after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 30, Speier might’ve been the happiest guy in the clubhouse.

Speier has been Seattle’s lone lefty for most of the season, with Taylor Saucedo spending much of the year in Triple-A Tacoma and rookie Brandyn Garcia getting sent to Arizona in the Josh Naylor trade. But now, Ferguson has arrived to provide a bit of depth to the Mariners pen, and a much-valued veteran presence as Seattle gets ready for a pennant race.

Before acquiring Ferguson, the Mariners had 47⅓ innings thrown by left-handed pitchers this season, with Speier pitching 39⅓ of them.

“I think my first little conversation I had with him, I put my arm around him, and I was just like, ‘Dude, I’m so happy you’re here, you know?’ ” Speier said. “I was like, ‘I’ve been the only lefty down here for a while now, and it’s just really good to have another one.’

“He laughed, and he was like ‘I’ve been there before.’ ”

Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, Ferguson made his big league debut in 2018, and played five seasons in L.A. while missing the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery. He has also played for the Yankees and Astros in addition to the Pirates, appearing in the playoffs in three of his seven-year big league career, including last year with Houston.

“Not only is it another lefty, but it’s another high-leverage lefty, and I think we can work as a tandem. It’s going to take some of the load off my workload, and I think we’ll complement each other well,” Speier said. “So I think, you know, it’s going to be a good fit.”

Ferguson had a 3.74 ERA in 42⅓ innings pitched for Pittsburgh this season, with a 1.08 WHIP and 34 strikeouts with 13 walks in 45 relief appearances.

He has yet to allow a base runner in three appearances for Seattle, and he’s glad to be joining an organization with such a highly regarded reputation for pitching development.

“I think the message has just kind of been ‘be yourself,’ ” Ferguson said of the welcome he has received from the Mariners. “I think that’s part of the reason they have success here is they just identify what you’re really good at doing, and that’s what they ask you to do. When you come into a new place and they tell you to be yourself, it kind of makes the transition a little seamless.”

Manager Dan Wilson was especially appreciative of Ferguson’s presence after a game like Saturday, an 11-inning affair that left the Mariners a bit depleted headed into Sunday’s series finale against the Texas Rangers.

“It’s huge,” Wilson said. “We’ve had to lean on Gabe pretty heavily here in the first part of the season just because he was for the most part, the only lefty we had. But you know, it gives you so much more flexibility in your bullpen, and it gives you a second round of being able to go after left handed hitters. So even after you use up Gabe, you’ve got Ferguson or vice versa. So it’s really a huge benefit for you to have both.”

Rowdy back in town

Former Mariners first baseman Rowdy Tellez didn’t have to wait long to make his return to T-Mobile Park, as the Rangers were in town to play the Mariners this weekend, just over a month after Tellez was released by the Mariners on June 26.

Tellez struggled at the plate for much of his time in Seattle, and was designated for assignment on June 20 after hitting .208 with a .333 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging mark with 11 homers and 29 RBI in 62 games.

Tellez signed a minor league deal with the Rangers on July 5 and was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on July 18. Tellez has hit well in 11 games for the Rangers, with a .320 batting average and a .917 OPS with one homer, three doubles, and five RBI.

“It’s a part of the game, so something you can’t really prep for,” Tellez said of getting released by Seattle. “When it happens, it happens. You know the old saying, ‘if you don’t like it, play better.’ … It’s a business, and they had to make a business decision. They made the decision, and I ended up here, and I’m happy here.”

Top prospects move up

Two of the Mariners’ top prospects, Colt Emerson and Jurrangelo Cijntje, have been promoted to Class AA Arkansas.

Emerson, a 20-year-old shortstop, is the Mariners’ top-ranked prospect and one of the highest-rated prospects in the sport. Baseball America has him as the No. 14 prospect in its latest Top 100 list.

In 90 games with the High-A Everett AquaSox this season, Emerson posted a .281/.388/.453 slash line (.841 OPS), with 11 homers, 51 RBI, 16 doubles, five triples, six steals, 68 strikeouts and 54 walks.

Emerson, the Mariners’ top pick in the 2023 MLB draft out of New Concord, Ohio, has been especially productive since June 1, hitting .313 with seven homers, 12 doubles and a .970 OPS in 44 games.

Cijntje, a 22-year-old switch-pitcher selected in the first round of the 2024 draft, has appeared in 19 games (16 starts) for Everett in his first season of pro ball, posting a 4.58 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 35 walks over 74.2 innings.

Cijntje struck out 10 with only one walk Saturday, allowing four runs in 52/3 innings.

Seattle Times reporter Adam Jude contributed to this report.