Dodgers pitching prospect obtained in Michael Busch trade earns major milestone

MLB Pipeline released their updated top 100 prospects list on Tuesday, and the Dodgers have five prospects representing them in the new ranking. Dalton Rushing leads the pack at No. 39, Josue De Paula follows at No. 49, and River Ryan, who probably would've graduated from prospect status had he stayed healthy, falls at No. 65 overall.

Triple-A shortstop Alex Freeland cracks the top 100 for the first time at No. 79, and Jackson Ferris, one of the players acquired in the trade that sent Michael Busch to the Cubs, also enters the top 100 for the first time at No. 90.

Busch's season this year as an everyday player for the Cubs has made Chicago seem like the winner in the trade. He's only missed six games this season and is hitting .262 with a .808 OPS. He leads Cubs batters in OPS and is second in homers only to Ian Happ.

However, Ferris (along with Zyhir Hope, who was also sent in the trade and moved up to No. 11 in the Dodgers' pipeline upon the update) makes it clear that the Dodgers didn't entirely get the short end of the stick in the deal.

Michael Busch trade piece Jackson Ferris (Dodgers lefty) cracked MLB Pipeline's top 100

Ferris was just promoted to Double-A on Aug. 2, the day after he threw eight almost perfect innings for the High-A Great Lakes Loons. He hit one batter during that outing and walked another four, but he didn't allow a single hit through all eight innings. (The combined no-hit bid was spoiled in the ninth, when reliever Michael Martinez gave up two hits and a run.)

Ferris struggled through his first two months in High-A, finishing off April with a 5.68 ERA that just barely improved to 5.31 by the end of May. However, he looked a lot better in June (3.68) and was incredibly solid through July, with a 1.04 ERA through four starts and 26 innings. In his first game in Double-A, he went 5 2/3 innings and only gave up one run on four hits.

He topped Justin Wrobleski in the Dodgers pipeline, who moved up from No. 14 to No. 6 thanks to a few solid efforts during his major league debut stint in early July. If the way the Dodgers accelerated Wrobleski is anything to go off of, Ferris could get a bump to Triple-A early next season and find himself in the majors not long after.