Rangers Note: No Callup Just Yet For Neftali Feliz

Posted on July 18th, 2009 5:37pm by Evan Grant
Filed under Baseball, Rangers prospects, Texas Rangers

ARLINGTON - Neftali Feliz seemed to easily clear the last hurdle of his transition from starter to reliever Friday night with a perfect inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City. It doesn’t necessarily mean his transition from minor leaguer to major leaguer is imminent.

“At some point this season he’s going to pitch up here,” manager Ron Washington said. “But it doesn’t have to be before the trading deadline. He threw well last night. He’s made the transition to the bullpen smoothly. It’s just a matter when we need him.”

The problem is the lack of a problem. Since RHP Jason Grilli was acquired on June 9, the bullpen has done outstanding work. From the time Grilli stepped on the mound on his first night with the club through Friday’s game, the bullpen had a 2.63 ERA in 95.2 innings. Since Grilli was acquired, only one Rangers reliever has an ERA above 3.18. That is closer RHP Frank Francisco, who has allowed six runs in 8.1 innings (6.75). Francisco is not in any danger of losing his job.

RHP Doug Mathis, the team’s primary long reliever who has a minor league option remaining, has pitched 10.2 scoreless innings since June 10 and has allowed just eight baserunners. If the Rangers were to send Mathis out, it would leave them without a long reliever. Feliz is expected to be a one-inning reliever.

“That’s why he’s not here yet,” Washington said of the bullpen’s performance. “We’ve got some young kids out there who need some help. You never know when that might happen.”

Against Round Rock on Thursday, Feliz allowed a hit in a scoreless eighth inning. He came back on Friday with a perfect inning that included a pair of strikeouts. He was reportedly hitting 98-99 mph on a radar gun.

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8 Comments to “Rangers Note: No Callup Just Yet For Neftali Feliz”
  • B. Money @ July 18th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    No need to rush him, but that certainly sounds like “closer of the future” stuff.

  • peppersquad @ July 18th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    F* closer, feliez should be given opportunities to start before he is shipped to the pen for good, 200 innings is much more valuable than 70.

  • scooper @ July 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    They haven’t said that the move to the bullpen is a permanent move — currently, this is just for this year. I would be upset if they said that they have totally given up on him as a starter. He is waaaay to young to do that! But for this year, I like this move.

  • john in clearwater @ July 18th, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    I would like to see him as a starter as well. Maybe next year?

  • Whose place does Neftali Feliz take in the bullpen? @ July 19th, 2009 at 8:21 am

    [...] not an easy decision, as manager Ron Washington indicated in his pregame media chat on Saturday. Evan Grant over at Inside Corner discusses this as well, but there just isn’t much room right now for [...]

  • jd21 @ July 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am

    Correct me if I’m wrong: Isn’t Dustin Nippert in the bullpen now? Why is this a difficult decision?

  • selke99 @ July 20th, 2009 at 8:11 am

    Hope it doesn’t mess with Feliz’s head too much that he’s asked to go from a starter’s mentality (5+ innings) to just one and done, then probably back to starter eventually.

  • The Top 10: The Most Interesting Men In The Dallas Sports World - At Least For This Week « wire2 @ July 20th, 2009 at 11:20 am

    [...] 6. Neftali Feliz: Pitched in relief on back-to-back days for Triple-A Oklahoma City Thursday and Friday. Officially starts Neftali Watch, countdown until he debuts with Rangers. [...]