Injury Bug Bites Neftali Feliz, Rangers looking at Roy Oswalt?
The Texas Rangers were the only team in Major League Baseball to have the same 25-man roster all season long, until Sunday when they placed starting pitcher Neftali Feliz on the 15-day DL with elbow inflammation. The 24 year old right handed flame thrower from Azua, Dominican Republic was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA through 7 starts this season: the Rangers think he will miss at least a month, and they hope he will be back around the All-Star break.
Neftali’s injury brings up a debate that Rangers fans have had for a few years, and that is should the club have ever taken him out of the closer role that he played very well in during his first two seasons? The short answer is yes. When the Rangers acquired Feliz in a blockbuster deal in 2007 for Mark Teixeira, Felix was a starter, and when he arrived in Texas he was touted as a future top of the rotation starter. He started 54 games in the minor leagues (throwing for 277 innings) with a 3.02 ERA and no injury problems, so it was clear that the Rangers front office believed that he could be starter for several years.
When the Rangers thought Feliz was ready for the big league club in 2009, they needed help in the bullpen at the time, so it seemed like a and thought it would be a good way to get the 21 year old into the flow of how to pitch at that level. Feliz pitched out of the pen some in AAA that year before being called up; he posted a 1.74 ERA in 31 innings in 2009. In 2010, he was superb when he claimed the closer role: he pitched 69.1 innings, had a 2.71 ERA, accumulated 40 saves, and won Rookie of the Year; all of which made it very difficult for the Rangers to determine how to use Neftali Feliz.
It’s a tough question: would you rather have a potential #1 starter or a lights out closer to finish the game? Despite Feliz’ success as a closer, the Rangers felt they needed a starter, so he went into spring training in 2011 with the opportunity to earn a spot in the Rangers’ starting rotation. When he was unable to secure a position in the rotation, Feliz went back to being the closer. In April of 2011 Feliz found himself on the DL for the first time in his career with a sore shoulder, he attributed the injury to trying to stretch out his arm in spring training so that he could be a starter. He rebounded from the injury and had a solid, but not great season, racking up only 32 saves on a team that made its second straight trip to the World Series.
Heading into the last off-season, the Rangers staff once again said he would be given the chance to start and this time he got the job. Feliz hasn’t been perfect as a starter this year, but he hasn’t been bad either: I was at his first start and he looked great and I think he can come back from this injury and continue to develop as a starter. Its very easy to look back and say the Rangers shouldn’t have moved Feliz from his closer role, but in the long run, he should develop into the #2-#3 starter that the Rangers need him to be.
Roy Oswalt
Feliz’s injury has the Rangers front office talking about signing 34 year old free agent Roy Oswalt to fill the void; rumors were swirling in the off season that the Rangers would make a play for Oswalt, but they ultimately decided they were content with the pitchers already on the staff. Scott Feldman has been slotted into the rotation for now, and Alexi Ogondo is still an option, but his success in the bullpen will more than likely keep him there. Oswalt has been a very successful pitcher throughout his career, most of with which he spent with the rival Houson Astros. Even if the Rangers were to sign him today, its unlikely that he would be ready to pitch right away; he has had injury problems during the last few seasons as well. The idea of bringing Oswalt in during the off season when he had time to get ready definitely had some merit, but the price of signing him now would be too high to justify trying to integrate Oswalt at this point in the season. More importantly, Scott Feldman has shown that he can be a successful starter; the Rangers will need him to step up and be that for the foreseeable future.
Other notes
The Texas Rangers continued to struggle this week, and they have now lost 6 of their last 10 games against teams ( the A’s, Royals, Astros, and Mariners) that they should be able to beat. There is light at the end of the tunnel even with Feliz’s injury, as the team received their first off day of the month yesterday. Rangers fans will be hoping that rest will get their team back to form and out of whatever funk they are in. The upcoming schedule consists of 5 straight home games against Toronto and Seattle before getting another off day next Thursday.
Do you think the Rangers made the right move by moving Feliz to the rotation? Should they give Oswalt a chance? Is tiredness the Rangers problem, or do you see something else that’s making them struggle so much?
If you’d like to send a question about the Rangers to me that could be featured in a article, you can email me at Wildcatsj25@gmail.com or direct message me on twitter @JustinBrumit
Ready to join the SportDFW Nation? Check us out on Facebook, Twitter or contact us at therealsportdfw@gmail.com