Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Jackson Ferris is getting a chance to earn a spot on the 40-man roster with an early starting opportunity in Spring Training.

Ferris, a 22-year-old who was taken in the second round by the Chicago Cubs, has been a quickly emerging prospect with the Dodgers.

He came over via the Michael Busch trade, which sent the infielder to the Cubs, along with reliever Yency Almonte, in exchange for prospects Zyhir Hope and Ferris.

While Ferris and Hope have not made the major league roster yet, both are considered top prospects, while Busch has thrived in Chicago in a trade that looks like a true win-win.

Now 22 and with a solid season of Double-A baseball under his belt, Ferris is hoping to finally break through a crowded position within the Dodgers organization.

Los Angeles has great pitching depth on the whole, with star arms that have experience at the top, and young, promising pitchers waiting in the wings for opportunity.

Ferris is one of those names who are on the bubble and could be next in line to step up during the long regular season.

Jackson Ferris gets his chance

On Friday, Dave Roberts announced that Ferris will start their second minor league game against the San Diego Padres, getting an early chance to make a good first impression.

During an interview with Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain, Ferris made it clear he wants to force the organization to promote him.

“It’s just trying to like force their hand kind of thing, just go out there and do what I can do, just kind of be the best that I can be and hopefully at the end of the day, like this year could be the year, but like who knows, just go out there and do what I can do,” Ferris told McKain.

Also, he detailed what pitches he is specifically working on to improve.

“I’ve been working on my changeup a lot lately because I just feel like I was fastball-slider mainly the last couple years, so working on my changeup and then adding a spike to my curveball,” Ferris added.

“It’s really helped it like, just get sharper later movement. So both of those two things are what I worked on a lot this past offseason and then early on here in spring.”

Dodgers fans should be excited about Ferris’ potential and what he could do if he makes the roster.