Dodgers Top Prospect Jackson Ferris Joins Oklahoma City for Triple-A Debut

The Dodgers have always known Jackson Ferris's ceiling. Now Triple-A Oklahoma City is tasked with raising the floor.

The 22-year-old left-hander, the Dodgers' top pitching prospect and their No. 5 overall prospect according to Baseball America, made his Triple-A debut Tuesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in a 4-3 Oklahoma City win over the Round Rock Express. Ferris made his season and Triple-A debut, starting on the mound for Oklahoma City and tossing three scoreless innings before allowing a two-run home run in the fourth inning. He was charged with two runs and three hits over 3.1 innings, with one walk and two strikeouts, in a no decision. The Comets provided the offense around him: Nick Senzel lined a two-out RBI single over Express shortstop Cam Cauley in the first inning, and Noah Miller added a two-run single in the third to stake Oklahoma City to the lead it would protect the rest of the night.

OKC broadcaster Alex Freedman announced Ferris's addition by noting he was the top left-handed pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization and had ranked among the organization's top three in starts, innings pitched, ERA, batting average against, and strikeouts in 2025. Ferris arrived carrying the kind of résumé that makes those words carry weight.

Ferris was the Dodgers' minor league pitcher of the year in 2024, earning a Branch Rickey Award. He posted a 3.20 ERA across 27 starts between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, striking out 145 batters in 126.2 innings. He entered 2025 ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN, before a more complicated Double-A season produced a 3.86 ERA across 26 games and 126 innings at Tulsa.

The metric Oklahoma City will work hardest to sharpen is walk rate. Scouts universally praise Ferris's pitch mix, led by two- and four-seam fastballs and a cutter, as well as a slider, a curveball and a changeup, with the two-seamer new in 2025. His arsenal is not the concern. Repeating his delivery and maintaining command under Triple-A conditions is the specific developmental challenge that stands between him and a conversation about Chavez Ravine. Ferris had a strong, if short, spring with the Dodgers, pitching 2.2 innings in two Cactus League appearances without allowing a run, with just four baserunners across both outings.

The pipeline context sharpens all of this. Ferris was acquired from the Chicago Cubs, along with outfielder Zyhir Hope, in the trade that sent infielder Michael Busch to Chicago. At 22 and now pitching at the game's highest minor league level, he is on a trajectory the Dodgers have clearly chosen to accelerate.

The walk column in his next start will be the clearest early signal of whether the Triple-A jump is landing cleanly. One free pass or fewer over five innings would indicate the command refinement Oklahoma City is specifically targeting has begun to hold under the pressure of the Pacific Coast League.