Perseverance Pays Off for Athletics Fireman Tyler Ferguson
Perseverance paid off for Athletics setup man extraordinaire Tyler Ferguson. He debuted in 2024 at the age of 30 after playing nine years of minor league and independent league baseball. “It’s been a long road,” he said during a 2025 spring training interview at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona, “but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
After finally reaching the bigs, he made a point to stay. And the Athletics are glad he has, as he has played a big role in their current 19–16 record and second-place standing in the AL West. Ferguson has spent the season setting up closer Mason Miller in the eighth as well as closing on nights that Miller needs a break. He has sparkled in his role, only allowing an earned run in 1 of his 16 appearances. That’s a ridiculous 93.8 Scoreless Outing Pct. (ScOtg%), with the AL average as of this writing being 74.0%. That has given him a 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 innings along with a 0.918 WHIP and a 24.6 K%. He finished third among AL setup men in Sport Relay’s March and April rankings. Since then, as of this writing, he has already climbed to second, trailing only former Athletics teammate Lucas Erceg, now of the Kansas City Royals.
Tyler Ferguson Perseveres, Excels in High-Leverage Spots
Several aspects of Tyler Ferguson stand out to manager Mark Kotsay. Also during spring training, Kotsay said the following about him.
“He’s big, strong, physical. I love big-bodied relievers. This is a guy that’s had to work for everything in his career. Got his opportunity last year with us. Previous season, he spent the whole year in triple-A with the Diamondbacks and threw the ball really well. You could see an energy about him when he got to the big leagues, and a mindset that he wasn’t going back. He’s kept that mindset. Coming into camp, you can tell he’s spent the off season refining and working hard to (continue) to make an impression. We used him. He closed a game or two, pitched in high leverage, pitched one-plus inning. So the mindset coming in here is he’s going to be a part of that back end of the bullpen and help us win games late.”
Pitching coach Mark Emerson used “perseverance” as the first word that came to mind when asked about Ferguson in spring training. He continued, “You got a guy who was a long-time minor leaguer who fought and kept grinding to get to the big leagues. When he came up to the big leagues last year, he did a great job.” Emerson went on to say that when looking at Ferguson “from afar,” what stands out is that Ferguson knows what he’s capable of and works hard to reach that level. “He really works hard at his craft,” Emerson said in summary.
The Long Road Has Equipped Him for Success
Spending all that time in the minors naturally grew frustrating at times, Ferguson acknowledged. It would have been easy — and understandable — to become completely discouraged. When asked how he avoided that feeling, Ferguson said, “It comes in waves. This game’s hard. It’ll beat you down. But luckily, I have enough love and passion for the game that, even in the tough moments, I saw some light at the end of the tunnel. And I kept pushing, kept trying to get better. I think I had a false confidence that I was better than I was at certain points. It was where I was thinking, “I can do this” — a healthy confidence. And it snowballed over the years of improving, and it snowballed into really getting good and becoming the pitcher I have become over the two years.”
Emerson also noted that Ferguson’s long path and resultant work ethic has helped make him a successful setup man. “When you grind every moment to get to the big leagues, and then you’re put in leverage situations because you have good stuff — and we threw him in a fire last year — he did a great job. He even closed some games for us. When you close a lot of minor league games, or you’re pitching in the back end of minor league games in your career, and then you’re older in the big leagues, you have some ability to fight. He showed that really well last year, and he did a great job.”
Staying in the Big Leagues
A former major leaguer once told this reporter it’s hard to make the big leagues but even harder to stay there. Emerson mentioned as much when asked what else Tyler Ferguson brings to the team. “Hard work. Leads by example. He knows the grind isn’t necessarily just getting to the big leagues, but it’s staying here. So now he’s got to fight every day. It’s like he’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s one of those guys that took a long time to get here and now wants to prove that he belongs.”
Ferguson added, “There’s a learning curve at the big-league level, and it’s constantly evolving. You have to keep getting better. People are gonna find and take advantage of your weaknesses or get better at (combating) your strengths. So you have to keep getting better and go out there, compete, and lay it all on the line.”
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