The Los Angeles Dodgers made their third round of roster cuts following their Cactus League victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, this time removing seven pitchers from Major League Spring Training.
The Dodgers reassigned left-handed pitchers Jackson Ferris, Joe Jacques and Jose E. Hernández and right-handers Sam Carlson, Jared Karros, Jack Little and Jose Rodriguez to Minor League camp. Their roster now stands at 45 players total as they work to trim it down to the 31-man travel roster for Tokyo and eventually the 26-man roster for Opening Day.
Ferris is the most notable of the group as the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect. The 21-year-old pitched three innings, striking out six and allowing two runs with one hold.
Ferris was named the Dodgers 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year while pitching for the High-A Great Lakes Loons and Double-A Tulsa Drillers.
The southpaw went 4-4 with a 3.39 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 119 strikeouts over 20 starts for the Loons. After joining the Drillers, Ferris went 1-3 with a 2.54 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in seven starts.
Jared Karros, the son of Dodgers legend and current SportsNet LA broadcaster Eric Karros, has also been an impressive prospect, but he has not been ranked as highly by scouts.
Still, the 24-year-old worked four scoreless innings in Cactus League play this spring while striking out three.
Karros is coming off a strong season where he posted a 2.79 ERA across 15 starts with the Loons and Drillers.
Jacques signed a Minor League deal this past offseason and has nearly 30 innings of MLB experience. After posting a 1.80 ERA with seven strikeouts across five innings this spring, he could see a chance with the Dodgers at some point during the season.
Hernández, Carlson, Little and Rodriguez all figure to be organizational depth arms. Any of them could see some time at the MLB level, but the majority of their season will more than likely be spent in the Minor Leagues.
Dodgers previous roster cuts
During the second round of roster cuts, the Dodgers focused on the position player side with Griffin Lockwood-Powell, Chris Okey, Alex Freeland, Austin Gauthier and Kody Hoese all reassigned to Minor League camp.
The first round of roster cuts included optioning Nick Frasso while Carlos Duran, Julian Fernández, Justin Jarvis, Ryan Ward, Justin Dean, Zyhir Hope and Josue De Paula were reassigned.
Players on the 40-man roster are required to be optioned while those in camp as non-roster invitees can be sent back to the Minor League level.
