Caleb Ferguson’s cheers were palpable.
After a 3-2 sweeper curled toward home plate and past Will Smith, he leaned forward and clenched his left fist, which probably would have been covered if his right hadn’t been covered by his glove.
Facing his former team for the first time in his career, Ferguson pitched well as the Yankees’ top left-hander in relief, silencing the Dodgers’ core of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Smith in a 1-2-3 eighth inning loss on Friday.
Ferguson has not allowed a run in 14 of his past 16 starts, a feat he has surprised himself with. He has allowed 25 runs in the Yankees’ first 66 games for the second straight season and is on pace to pitch in 60 or more games.
Six weeks after manager Aaron Boone called Ferguson “a key member of our relief staff” — who did not pitch in Saturday’s 11-3 loss to the Yankees — the reliever lived up to expectations.
“I’m the best hitter on their lineup and for the manager to put me in with the score tied, it shows he has a lot of confidence in me because it’s a big moment,” Ferguson told The Post, acknowledging that Boone could have pivoted in a different direction based on his “track record” of not pitching as well as expected this season.
But Ferguson had never experienced the emotion of playing against his former MLB team.
He was drafted by the Dodgers in the 38th round in 2014, recovered from Tommy John surgery and slowly worked his way to the big leagues, bit by bit, bouncing from minor league affiliate to minor league affiliate.
Originally, he wanted to be a starting pitcher, and Ferguson said that dream hasn’t necessarily disappeared at this point.
But after solidifying his role in the bullpen and playing consistently with the Dodgers, he was acquired by the Yankees before the 2024 season.
“I think being a starting pitcher is a privilege,” Ferguson said, “There’s a reason why starting pitchers are starting pitchers and I think that’s really awesome, but sometimes it feels just as great to get a big out late in the game.”
In the most recent example, Ferguson threw two strikes to Ohtani before getting the Dodgers superstar to fly out.
He fended off two foul balls from Freeman, drew a lineout and then struck out Smith, who was in Freeman’s wedding party when they were teammates.
Ferguson has yet to pitch as well as he would like.
Last month, there was a brutal seventh inning against the Rays.
He believes he is still one or two balls away from winning, but Ferguson feels he is “moving in the right direction” these days.
The latest glimpse happened to come against his former team.
