Keeping up with the Houston Astros prospects: Justin Ferrell

Astros prospect interview: Justin Ferrell

Photo courtesy of @QCBanditPhotog.

Many Houston Astros fans may hear the name Justin Ferrell, and think about Riley Ferrell, who the Astros drafted in the second round of the 2015 MLB draft. However, Justin Ferrell is a totally different person. The Houston Astros drafted Ferrell in the 36th round of the 2014 draft, which is a polar opposite of his counterpart. However, Justin Ferrell has had a strong start to his minor league career in his first two seasons in the Astros organization.

Ferrell pitched last season with the Gulf Coast League Astros and was successful in his time there. The six-foot-seven-inch pitcher had a 1-3/ 3.67 ERA/ 39 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings with the GCL Astros.

This season, Ferrell was starting to find his groove. With the 85-46 Quad Cities River Bandits in 2015, he has been a big part of the success of the team in the rotation and as part of the tandem system as the second starter. This season he got off to a late start but made up for it with an impressive 4-3/ 1.95 ERA/ 37 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings. You might have noticed the drop in the ratio of strikeouts to innings pitched, but he will address it later in the interview.

Ferrell is another player to add to the lists of the Tyler White type of players who are not top prospects because of how late they were drafted, but have played like top prospects. Before I get into the interview, since Ferrell and I have talked, he has been placed on the seven-day DL list with an arm injury. I hear he might be getting it looked at soon, so good luck to Justin, I hope it is not anything serious.

Let’s see what Justin Ferrell has to say. If you were looking for Riley Ferrell, this is the wrong post, but you are welcome to continue reading.

Next: The Justin Ferrell interview