Riley Ferrell returns to Astros, assigned to Corpus Christi

Minor league reliever Riley Ferrell is coming back to the Astros after clearing waivers.

After news broke recently that Riley Ferrell had been placed on waivers by the Marlins, there was a solid chance he would be coming back to the Astros. Now that he has cleared waivers, he will indeed be coming back to the organization that drafted him.

Ferrell went to Miami via the Rule 5 Draft in December. Because the Marlins waived him and no team claimed him on waivers, he was required to be offered back to the Astros for half of what the Marlins paid to get him.

Harnessing Potential

The Astros gave Ferrell a big signing bonus after drafting him in the third round in 2015, and he posted solid numbers leading up to his Triple-A debut in 2018. He frequently exhibited control issues, manifesting in a tendency to walk too many hitters. But because his stuff was so good, he was able to keep the hits to a minimum.

That didn’t happen in Triple-A, however, as Ferrell was shelled to the tune of a 6.75 ERA. That led to the Astros keeping him off the 40-man roster, which made him eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. Thanks to a biceps injury, he never made his major league debut before the Marlins waived him.

Now the 25-year-old has a chance to go back to Double-A, where the Astros will make sure he’s healthy and attempt to help him hone his command. The scouting report notes he has a tendency to overthrow pitches due to working at a quick tempo, so perhaps slowing things down would help him out.

There’s still plenty of potential in him and plenty of time for him to figure things out. If he can, he could turn into an excellent late-inning reliever with his big-time fastball/slider combo.

***Statistics courtesy of MiLB.com***