PLAYER REVIEW: JOSE A. FERRER

Age on Opening Day 2026: 26

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2017

MLB service time: 2 years, 94 days

2025 salary: $765,400

Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2027, free agent in 2030

2025 stats: 4-4, 4.48 ERA, 72 G, 11 SV, 76 1/3 IP, 81 H, 41 R, 38 ER, 5 HR, 16 BB, 71 SO, 7 HBP, 1.271 WHIP, 92 ERA+, 3.03 FIP, 0.1 bWAR, 1.4 fWAR

Quotable: “I’ve got to give huge credit to my teammates and the coaches. And I haven’t said this, but especially Luis Garcia, the reliever. Since the day we signed him, he helped me a lot with the mentality to go out there and just have fun, whether it’s during practice or during the game. He’s been a huge help.” – Jose A. Ferrer, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz

2025 analysis: Despite a lack of significant experience in high-leverage situations, Ferrer entered the season as the Nationals’ top left-handed reliever, charged with facing top opposing left-handed hitters in the late innings. The club’s belief was that he had the stuff to be successful; he just needed experience.

The season’s first few months offered evidence both of Ferrer’s ability and his inexperience. When he was good, he was very good. When he was bad, he was very bad. To wit: He was scored upon in eight of his first 19 appearances, giving up multiple runs in seven of those eight outings.

Over time, Ferrer found more consistency and limited the damage with more regularity. He managed to reduce his ERA from an unsightly 8.05 in early-May to a better 4.78 by late-July. And when the Nats decided to deal Finnegan to the Tigers at the trade deadline, they decided it was time to thrust their young lefty into the most important role in the bullpen.

Would you believe Ferrer proved far more effective as closer than he was as a setup man? Emboldened by the move to the ninth inning, he put together 14 consecutive scoreless innings, striking out 14 while walking only two and going 8-for-8 in save situations. That run didn’t last through the end of September, though. Perhaps worn down from his extensive usage – he pitched across multiple innings in 11 of his final 19 appearances – he was scored upon in five of his final six outings, leaving a bit of a sour taste in his mouth as he headed home for the winter.

2026 outlook: Ferrer ended this season as the No. 1 option at the back end of the Nationals bullpen. The question is: Should he enter next season in that same role?

There’s no doubt he figures into the 2026 relief picture. A young left-hander who can reach 100 mph and remains under club control four more years is a valuable asset for any organization. And he’s got plenty of positive attributes. In addition to that electric fastball, Ferrer throws strikes. He has walked fewer than two batters per nine innings each of the last two seasons. He also doesn’t give up that much loud contact, with only six home runs surrendered in 108 1/3 innings the last two years and a ridiculously low 0.8-degree average launch angle off the bat this season.

When it comes to strikeouts, Ferrer is only league-average, despite the elite velocity. He’s really a ground ball pitcher, with a whopping 64.3 percent ground ball rate (20 points higher than the MLB average). But he hasn’t always been able to turn ground balls into outs, evidenced by a high .345 batting average on balls in play. Better defense behind him would help, but more swings and misses would help even more.

At this point, Ferrer looks like a legit late-inning option when facing a string of left-handers, who batted just .186 with a .521 OPS against him this year. Righties, however, batted .323 with an .802 OPS, and that is going to have to be an area of real improvement if he’s going to earn the right to be a trusted closer in the long term.