Mariners Mock Draft: Prospects Live has them taking Jackson Ferris

There isn’t a lot going on in baseball right now. We can throw out proposals, talk about the lockout, and dream about baseball coming back. There’s also one other thing that is a bit more tangible and realistic than the rest. Talking about the upcoming class of new major leaguers in the 2022 draft, and examining related mock drafts whenever they happen. Prospects Live just came out with their 1.0 Mock draft, and they have the Mariners selecting Jackson Ferris with the 21st pick.

Mariners – 1/21 – Jackson Ferris, LHP, IMG Academy

For quite a while, the Mariners took college players and had a nice run of college arms. They bucked the trend last year when they took the incredibly athletic Harry Ford in the first round with the 12th pick overall, a high schooler who can play catcher, second, or even outfield.

So, what does Jackson Ferris bring? It sounds like he has greatly increased his fastball velocity from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, he was sitting high 80s, and would occasionally touch into the low 90s. After improving his base and core strength, he now sits in the low 90s and can tough 96. That’s a massive jump, and you have to imagine that there is still some room for him to improve once he gets into a major league system.

A lanky lefty, he currently sits around 6’4″ and 190 lbs. You’d think he would be a bit wild (as is common with hard-throwing and lanky players looking to generate extra velocity), but he is actually pretty accurate with a very repeatable delivery. It’s his secondary and tertiary pitches that he needs to work on, as the consistency can be a bit tough.

It is something that he has improved on, as he had a big tell on his curve in 2020, which seems to be something he has been working on and eliminating through 2021 and into 2022. The curve is a plus pitch, with a hard late break that can be difficult to pick up. He throws a change as well, but it needs work.

Just from reading about him, I’m sure you can get a picture in your head of what he is like. He’s got a loose delivery, and it seems fairly smooth without over-exuding effort. The delivery actually looks like a mix of Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, according to a 2020 article from Prospects Live.

Much like Lincicum, Ferris has an elite extension, which comes from the energy created in the high leg kick, and a stellar, albeit non explosive drive (this creates the desired low vaa fastball). As he enters his drive, he stays extremely closed off (front side), which visually looks like a fusion of Lincicum and a Bumgarner’s deliveries (slow collected stride of Mad Bum, kick/gather/extension Lincicum).

It sounds like Ferris has a pretty high ceiling. A lefty with good speed, a hammer curve, a repeatable delivery, and still leaves room to improve. The Mariners should be happy to get Jackson Ferris at 21 in the upcoming draft, and I think fans should be happy if he makes it to them as well.