Jackson Ferris and Dalton Rushing named 2024 Branch Rickey Award winners

09/20/2024 03:22 PM

by Cary Osborne

When the Dodgers traded infielder Michael Busch to the Chicago Cubs on Jan. 11, they were dealing their №4 prospect at the time and reigning Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year for a pair of minor leaguers.

Eight months later, one of those prospects is now the organization's Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Left-handed pitcher Jackson Ferris, one of two prospects the Cubs sent back in the deal, tops an outstanding first season in the Dodger organization with its top player development individual pitching award.

Meanwhile, Dalton Rushing — one of the top-rising left-handed hitters in the Minor Leagues and the Dodgers' 2022 second-round pick — is the 2024 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year.

Ferris was acquired along with Minor League outfielder Zyhir Hope for Busch and reliever Yency Almonte. Busch has 20 home runs for the Cubs. Meanwhile, Ferris had a 3.20 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and struck out 145 batters in 126 2/3 innings for Double-A Tulsa and High-A Great Lakes this season. He had a 2.54 ERA in seven starts at Tulsa.

"It was kind of like an old-school trade — position of need for them, and they gave up some really good players and we gave up some really good players," said Will Rhymes, Dodger vice president of player development. "I think it worked out for both sides. Jackson has really taken off."

So has Hope, who batted .287 and had a .905 OPS with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Ferris had a 1.59 ERA over his last 12 Minor League starts in 2024 and limited opponents to a .159 average during the period. He threw eight no-hit innings on Aug. 1 for Great Lakes before being called up to Tulsa.

"He just jumped right in with both feet from the day we acquired him and was really open-minded and curious and extremely hard-working," Rhymes said. "He just hit the ground running and was really an ideal fit. You don't fully know someone's personality and their work habits (when you first meet them), and I think we learned that really quickly — just how competitive he is. I think that stood out from his first few outings of the season. He's a really quick learner, and he just got after it all season, and he improved so much."

The Dodgers knew Rushing's makeup, having seen success from him in 2022 and 2023. Rushing batted .228/.404/.452/.856 in 2023 for Great Lakes.

The 23-year-old batted .270/.383/.501/.884 with 24 home runs, 46 extra-base hits, 82 RBI and 62 walks with Triple-A Oklahoma City and Double-A Tulsa this season.

"We've been lucky to have some really good hitters come through here, but Dalton stands out even amongst some previous winners of the award, and he's a very well-rounded hitter," Rhymes said. "He's one of the more prepared hitters that that we've seen, more advanced. He worked hard this year to maintain his strengths, which are looking over the baseball and hitting the ball incredibly hard. He has a rare ability to do both of those. And this year, he improved dramatically in how he performed versus velocity and the hit-for-average tool."

His 140 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) ranked first in the Dodger organization among players at the A-ball or higher levels.

Rushing, a catcher/first baseman throughout his collegiate and pro career prior to 2024, appeared in 30 games this season in left field.

"He's a brilliant athlete," Rhymes said. "He runs really well, and he has really good baseball instincts. So we feel pretty confident wherever we put him on the diamond that he's got the baseball instincts and athleticism to be good."

Jackson Ferris and Dalton Rushing named 2024 Branch Rickey Award winners was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.