Riley Ferrell Stats & Scouting Report

IP	206
ERA	3.495
WHIP	1.369
BB/9	5.024
SO/9	10.485

Full name Riley Cole Ferrell
Born 10/18/1993 in College Station, TX
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 225 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Texas Christian
Drafted in the 3rd round (79th overall) by the Houston Astros in 2015 (signed for $1,000,000).

View Draft Report

Teams have stopped drafting college relievers in the first round. Nick Burdi (picked 46th) and Jacob Lindgren (picked 55th) were the top two relievers taken last year and Corey Knebel (picked 39th) was the only college reliever taken in the top two rounds in 2013. That trend will likely continue this year. College relievers can deliver a quick payoff, though, and none may pay off quicker than Ferrell. Pro teams will be able to take a gloves-off approach this season with Ferrell because he's been so lightly used this spring. TCU's starting pitchers have been so effective that Ferrell had just 25 innings of work as the Big 12 tournament neared. Ferrell has shown that his stuff holds up very well in the very infrequent times he's been used on back-to-back nights, He's averaging only 16 pitches per outing and has topped 30 pitches only once all year. He's posted sub 1.00 ERAs both as a sophomore and junior. Ferrell's 92-96 mph plus fastball has touched 98 mph at times, and he pairs it with a plus mid-80s slider that has depth more than tilt. Ferrell also has a changeup with potential that he doesn't really use in games as a reliever but could become much more important if a team decides to see if he can start. While his up-tempo delivery has some effort, his arm stroke is clean. There are teams who view him as a potential three-pitch starter but more likely he's an effective power reliever with a chance to close.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Track Record: Ferrell looked like a potentially fast-moving reliever when the Astros drafted the Texas Christian closer. But Ferrell’s track to the majors was temporarily derailed by shoulder surgery to alleviate an aneurysm. He returned to the mound in 2017, but control troubles, which troubled him in college, popped back up in 2018. The Marlins snagged Ferrell with the fourth pick in the 2018 Rule 5 draft.

Scouting Report: Ferrell’s 94-97 mph fastball is a little straight, but it has enough velocity to be a plus pitch. Ferrell’s slider hasn’t developed into the plus pitch that looked possible in college, but it’s an average pitch. To be an effective big league reliever, Ferrell’s going to have to improve his below-average control. He stays direct to the plate and his arm works well, but he loses the strike zone for batters at a time.

The Future: Now with the Marlins, Ferrell should make his major league debut at some point in 2019. Ferrell’s ceiling is as a setup man if he can throw strikes more consistently.
Ferrell also impressed in three years as Texas Christian's closer, but the success of the Horned Frogs meant he only logged 31.2 innings as a junior--the team didn't have many games close enough for Ferrell to finish out. As a pro, Ferrell has put control troubles behind him, but his more frightening obstacle was an aneurysm in his shoulder. Doctors noticed it after a couple of Ferrell's fingers went numb early in the 2016 season. He missed the rest of the season. When he returned, he was much of the same guy as he had been before the surgery. He runs his fastball into the mid-90s, and while a plus pitch, it's more of a setup offering, as most of Ferrell's strikeouts come off of his monstrous slider that earns 70 grades on the 20-to-80 scale. It breaks enough that it rarely finishes in the strike zone, but that's yet to be a problem. Ferrell profiles as a seventh/eighth-inning reliever because he has a swing-and-miss secondary. Time will tell if he has to figure out how to throw it for a strike or if it's just good enough that hitters can't lay off of it consistently.
Part of a loaded 2013 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, Ferrell dominated Cuba's national team as a freshman with a 95-98 mph fastball and followed it with a dominant 2014 season at Texas Christian. His body has gotten worse and his effort level has picked up since then, culminating with an awful final two weeks before the draft. In the NCAA regionals and super regionals, Ferrell allowed seven earned runs (and walked five) in his five appearances after giving up just six runs in his previous 56 appearances. The Astros still gave him $1 million and saw him respond with a mixture of dominance and wildness. When he's rested, he will sit 93-96 and touch 98 mph, and the plus-plus fastball sets up a hard, short slider that also generates plus grades. Ferrell's overhand delivery generates angle on his fastball and helps his slider dive downward more than most sliders with a little late tilt. Ferrell has a strong frame and had a relatively clean delivery. He's demonstrated close to average control for most of his college career but struggled to repeat in 2015. He has toyed with a promising changeup in bullpens but he hasn't needed it much in his short stints. Ferrell has closer stuff, but he'll have to throw more strikes than he did last year.

Draft Prospects

Teams have stopped drafting college relievers in the first round. Nick Burdi (picked 46th) and Jacob Lindgren (picked 55th) were the top two relievers taken last year and Corey Knebel (picked 39th) was the only college reliever taken in the top two rounds in 2013. That trend will likely continue this year. College relievers can deliver a quick payoff, though, and none may pay off quicker than Ferrell. Pro teams will be able to take a gloves-off approach this season with Ferrell because he's been so lightly used this spring. TCU's starting pitchers have been so effective that Ferrell had just 25 innings of work as the Big 12 tournament neared. Ferrell has shown that his stuff holds up very well in the very infrequent times he's been used on back-to-back nights, He's averaging only 16 pitches per outing and has topped 30 pitches only once all year. He's posted sub 1.00 ERAs both as a sophomore and junior. Ferrell's 92-96 mph plus fastball has touched 98 mph at times, and he pairs it with a plus mid-80s slider that has depth more than tilt. Ferrell also has a changeup with potential that he doesn't really use in games as a reliever but could become much more important if a team decides to see if he can start. While his up-tempo delivery has some effort, his arm stroke is clean. There are teams who view him as a potential three-pitch starter but more likely he's an effective power reliever with a chance to close.
Scouts are having a hard time figuring out Ferrell. At times he'll run his fastball up to 94 mph, yet at others he works at 87. His low-80s slider also ranges from a below-average to a plus pitch, depending on the day. He has an athletic 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame but also a lot of effort in his delivery, which creates inconsistency with his pitches and his control. While his upside is obvious, he'll probably get three years to learn how to pitch at Texas Christian because he's considered unsignable.