It was an interesting season for Jose A. Ferrer. On one hand, he showed all of the interesting traits that make him an exciting young reliever. However, 2025 did not prove to be the breakout season many expected from Ferrer. He showed flashes, but was unable to put it all together this year.
When you watch Ferrer pitch, it is easy to get excited. The ball just explodes out of his hand and he throws gas from the left side. His fastball gets into the triple digits and has a ton of movement, even at that high velocity. In fact, Ferrer’s sinker gets 2.7 more inches of tail compared to the average sinker. It is a true bowling ball sinker and he leans on the pitch heavily.
Ferrer throws his sinker, which averages about 98 MPH over 70% of the time. Going into next season, I am interested to see if that usage comes down. At times, Ferrer can be too predictable. Despite having nasty life, batters hit over .300 against Ferrer’s sinker. His sinker is designed to get ground balls and with the Nats poor infield defense, a lot of those ground balls found holes.
It is not like Ferrer does not have good secondary pitches. His changeup is a really good pitch that mirrors the sinker well before falling off the table. The pitch had an excellent 47% whiff rate this season. Look for Ferrer to lean on that pitch more next season, especially to right handed hitters.
Ferrer will also show the occasional slider to left handed hitters. He only threw it 7.5% of the time, but it got elite results. Batters hit just .105 against the pitch and whiffed over half the time. Against lefties, he threw the heater almost 80% of the time. Next season, he should be throwing that slider more to lefties.
Despite these elite tools, Ferrer’s ERA was 4.48 this season. However, his underlying numbers were much better. Ferrer’s FIP was 3.03, his xFIP was 3.09 and his xERA was 3.57. I would expect a positive regression from Ferrer, much like we saw from Robert Garcia in Texas this year. He can fundamentally be the same pitcher as this year and have much better results in 2026.
It is worth noting that Ferrer got off to a very poor start this season. After a May 6th blowup, Ferrer’s ERA was at a sky high 8.05. He looked like another disappointment in a bullpen that was full of them. After that, Ferrer went on a great run until mid-September when he ran out of gas. At one point, he got that ERA under 4 and was a reliable closer for the Nats.
It is no surprise that he ran out of gas. He was used heavily in a Nats bullpen that was light on reliable options. Ferrer made 72 appearances and pitched 76.1 innings this season.
Ferrer compiled 11 saves and 21 holds for the Nats. When he got going, he was a very good reliever for the Nats. He has a rare collection of abilities. Ferrer is elite at generating ground balls, with a 64.3 GB%. However, he also has very good control, walking less than 5% of hitters.
At times, I think Ferrer’s strike-throwing can be slightly detrimental. He is in the zone a lot, but is not necessarily hitting corners. Hitters should not be batting .276 against a guy with his stuff. The control is very good, but I think Ferrer needs to work on his command.
While we did not get a true breakout in 2025, I still have a ton of belief in Ferrer. A 2026 breakout feels very possible. His underlying numbers were very good this year and I think he can make a few tweaks to get even better. If he mixes in more off-speed, I think Ferrer can be lethal.
The sinker is obviously Ferrer’s primary pitch, but he should probably be throwing it closer to 55% of the time rather than 70% of the time. That leaves more room for his changeup and slider which are nasty.
This is an interesting season to grade for Ferrer. He was very promising but did not put it all together. A 4.48 ERA is uninspiring, but it does not tell the whole story. That ERA holds back his grade, but you also have to look at the context. For what it is worth, I think Ferrer’s grade will be a lot higher in 2o26.