While Rangers' Bullpen Continues Implosion, Neftali Feliz Says He'll Never Start

By Richie Whitt Tue., May 3 2011 at 8:10 AM

Categories: Texas Rangers

Pin It

Neftali Feliz will pitch Wednesday night in Frisco. But if it's up to him, he'll never pitch in the Rangers' starting rotation.

While Texas continues to blow games -- yesterday it was Darren Oliver allowing Hideki Matsui's 10th-inning homer in a 5-4 loss -- and erase the warm-n-fuzzies from the 9-1 start, its bullpen is getting worse by the inning. No Darren O'Day. No Closer. No way to logically explain losing five of six series since Josh Hamilton broke his arm -- other than bad baseball.

Too many errors (Elvis Andrus made his seventh yesterday). Not enough hitting (only regular over .300 is Michael Young). And a spotty bullpen, led by 40-somethings Oliver (1-3) and Arthur Rhodes not getting timely outs and Monday both allowing homers.

Feliz is on the way, via Frisco, and he'll save the bullpen and hopefully more games starting Friday in Arlington when he comes off the disabled list and the Yankees come to town.

But after being stretched out in spring training as a possible starter, the guy who last year set a rookie record with 40 saves says he's done starting. Before his first start.

"I spent most of spring training as a starter and I enjoyed it," Feliz told USA Today on Sunday. "But I'm a closer now, and God willing I'll remain a closer the rest of my career. I made the decision that I won't start anymore."

Not sure it's up to God, but more so Nolan Ryan. Close enough.

Are we cool with this? Players telling coaches how they'll be used, that is. I mean, could Felix Jones tell the Cowboys "My days as a full-time running back are over. Only third-down snaps for me"?

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Tags:

Arthur Rhodes, Baseball, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver, Neftali Feliz

Write Comment

Email to Friend

Print Article

Related Content

More About:

Damn it Sam, that ain't right brother..RW has this and the abortion of a radio show and you don't have a writing job..Salute brother, still following you on the twitter.
Gents: You haven't seen any Rangers stories from me because I left the Dallas Observer on Monday to pursue freelance and other opportunities.
I think you and I have different definitions of "monster". But I'll play your silly little game. Let me ask you this.... If the guy is Cy Young, why is it he only pitches 1 inning per game? Why is he scared shitless of becoming a starter? If the guy could start and go 5 innings as a monster starter, why doesn't he do it? Personally, I'm a lot more impressed with a Cy Young award than "Rookie of the Year". All a "Rookie of the Year" award says is a guy has potential....meaning the guy is still developing....which is what I've been saying all along.
Thank you fine sir for the BREAKING NEWS!!! Back to you Delkus....
BREAKING SFBL SOUNDER: Stupidbitch and JBS were able to get together on a deal late this evening. Principles include Lincecum, Cordero and Drew heading westwards for Jime'nez, Longoria and filler. GM JMoney had this to say afterwards: "this WILL send a shot over everyones bow, We plan to WIN it all this year. Second place is not an option." Stupidbitch was quoted as saying "We fleeced the crazy western Texan, and definitely improved our team." Back to you Delkus, bore us with some weather.
I was in Barnes and Noble and asked the lady if they had any Best of Kergo in the classics section and she recommended an old Sears catalog instead would be most suitable for my apparent aspirations.
A good baseball atmosphere, indeed, when only 17,000 show up per game for the series. You can sit anywhere you want practically and you don't have to wait in any lines. Maybe they need to sell some of their seating on Overstock.com
Merten is a bit a frontrunner..he's probably working up a Mav's article...(Joking Merten, Joking) We could damn sure use a good Ranger's article though.
I'm pretty much right there with you about the poaching and what my team is Scruffy..it just sucks the life out of the deal when there's a team that you can't even approach about a trade. Merten entertained a couple of offers, TKR didn't hit me back with a counter..but again he had the excuse of being in first. You haven't been shy on what you've countered, but I know that RS's has a bit going...just a bit of a pisser...there's 10 or so players over there that would make our 10 squads, no doubt.
I'll poach whatever points I can from Shitts. It was a failed bit from the start, but credit for it being stuck to. Honestly, and I certain I'm biased, but I've looked at other rosters and I like who I have on mine. I may rename to the Minnesota Twins here soon--starting out terribly, but I'll be contending when it counts. My pitching is solid, especially starters, I'm getting some saves, and my batters appear to be returning to form--Crawford is on an uptick and so is Uggla. A better average and more runs and I'm climbing the standings.
Glad to see a TRDP1 post about SFBL where my name is top. I said Id knock that slant eye off the top but it took an extra weekend than I thought. I wish my ERA would come down, but if I keep at the top of K's and W's I guess its worth having that as my shitty catergory. And Merten keeps floating around but he must have a big cover story coming, he's been light on the moves and light on the commenting here. In fact we havent had a good Merten Rangers post since opening week.
StupidBitch please check your team's email, important matters await.. I've been wondering about the fellow manager's stance on the Richie Shitt's, seems as if everyone here has taken it seriously except for him. TKR gets a mulligan cause he's been in first damn near the whole season, not much reason to fix what isn't broke. Is there anything (contraction?) that could be done to dear old RS's? I thought that Scruffy was building some momentum..with Crawford's walkoff and Greinke's return...still rooting for you big guy. And Balk You hit some kind of turbo boost on us last weekend...he screamed up the charts. I have the same issues as I've had all year, poor starting pitching..of course Neffy and Aardsma and now Panda being injured haven't exactly helped. .at some point you have to look in the mirror though...I've already tried to change the whole team out...MEH, screw it...methinks one more huge trade and I'll be otay.
Actually Rooster, this is what you said: "This Rooster will gladley eat crow if Feliz turns out to be a monster. I'll say the the same exact thing now that I said then - can we let him pitch more than 19 innings in 11 games before we declare him a Cy Young candidate? One save does not make him Nolan Ryan yet. How about we let the guy pitch long enough for a book to come out on him? If he lasts and still has an ERA of 0.46, I'll gladly eat crow. My guess is once people figure him out, he will come back in line with all the rest of MLB pitchers. " Quoteth the Cock of the Sportatorium, in 2009. He pitched more than 19 inning last year Rooster, looked pretty good to my eyes..How about yours? Did You like that Rookie of the Year award? I did.
Hey turds, You're lucky I'm back, I'm just saying. For some real baseball updates, here's SFBL for today: ScottsMerkin 77 The Korean Reliever 70 Balk You 67.5 DavyCrockett 66 Merten's Molestation 64.5 Fandricks 60.5 Stupid Bitch 59.5 Josh'sbrokenshoulder 55.5 TRDP1s Bloodytacos 55 The Richie Shitt's 43.5 Crawford's Uggla 41 I'm coming up on JBL and Stupid Bitch, but LOOKOUT...are you effing kidding me? SM is at the top, finally taking over from TKR's autodrafted team. What will this mean? Will TKR finally make a move? Stay tuned.
Again rooster, whats up with Ogando then, he is defying all the same things you say about Neftali.
Actually, I was the guy saying he was still developing, and if the guy could be a starter, he would be a starter. I stand by that comment. If the guy had a dominant pitches other than his fastball, he'd be a starter. He doesn't so he's not. The results speak for themselves. If his other pitches were developed enough for him to be as dominant of a starter as he is a closer, he wouldn't be crying about it. Young pitchers take time to develop into starters, if they get there at all. That was my point then and still is now, but many here in the Sportatorium were/are too mesmerized by his fastball to see that.
too lazy, too busy! since i've quit postin' every 5 minutes; i'm gettin' stuff done. WORD. LEGEND!
I'm still waiting for an olive branch and a new committment to writing good stories. The stories today were actually a step in the right direction. Good job Whitt.
Rooster is the guy that said put away the annointing oil two summers ago..while he was in the midst of like a 17 inning scoreless streak.
The best of Kergo is not a whole lot better than the best of The Fan would be... Bring new material or stay home, Kerg. My posts may suck but they're custom, hand-crafted, premium content every time, no reruns and no payment required.
surprisde you arent roastin ogando then. he's got 2 ptiches and seems to be doing fine
Yes, Triple Huh. But he is also Ian Kinsler, Elvis, and Nelson Cruz's batting coach as well. 3 featured players in the lineup with only one of them hitting over.250. Veteran superstars like Young and Hamilton will have high batting averages with most hitting coaches. It's the hitting coach's job to get the struggling stars/players up to speed and that is obviously not happening. So Young and Hamilton's high average make the team batting average a virtual misnomer when it comes to Bosley's impact thus far. It's early I know and a long season. But right now it's a shaky lineup with multiple slumps abound, and Bosley needs to light a fire or show his batting instruction prowess upon these hitters like soon.
The guy's other pitches aren't developed enough to be a dominant starter. Good call. Maybe next year.
classic repost from yesterday B's: Kergie out! LEGEND. _____________ kergernator 20 hours ago I have something ya'll may want to see; it is the enduring memory of my childhood (other than Bobby Orr, the greatest sports hero EVER!)...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... let's see thats Park, O'reilly, and Stan Jonathon all kicking butt, then JOHN WENSINK challenging the WHOLE North Stars bench. That's real frickin' hockey; Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore, Cam Neely, Z Chara hockey! Who challenges a whole bench: The BIG BAD BRUINS! ______ Oh yeah, in other news, the Stars still play boring, neutral zone crap that makes me want to poke my eyes out when watching. ps-Quebec?
"Are we cool with this?" Do you really give a shit what we think? I love how you ask us questions, but don't engage with us in the debate. Screw you.
You could've had Grienke (he's starting tomorrow, BTW) for the low, low price of Feliz.
Right Chuck G. That is factoring in Josh Hamilton's .333 batting average. I took out his 13 for 39 and that leaves the team with 244 for 922 = .265 team batting average. Still seventh in the majors and third in the American League. BTW, Thad is not Josh's hitting coach also?
Much ado about nothing, like RW's radio/mejia and husband duties. Neffy is/was/will be the closer of the Redshoes this year...and Starting will be revisited next year. I for one, can not freaking wait for Neffy to get his fastball back out ot the pen...and fellow SFBL members know why.
Rev. Al Sharpton( the fake and real one) is the most racist person that has are will ever live.
Yes Rev. Sharpton you are right sir. All black baseball players are wonderful. Darren Oliver and Arthur Toads and pitching spectacularly this season. And I agree with you when you say that it's racist when a white umpire calls a 3rd strike on a black hitter. They just called it a strike because they are racist biggots.
Right Triple huh. That is factoring in Josh Hamilton's .333 batting average. I took that out of the equation.
Long ways away from 162-0, eh boys? You guys thought it was "over" after 9 games. welcome to basball luck! Go Bruins (in OT)!
Hey Rev dickhead, if you weren't such a racist toward white people then maybe your opinion would matter, but why dont you stick to things you know about like say scheduling black panther rallies cheating on your taxes and taking race realtions back 100 yrs, leave the sports to us, thanks.
It's b/c Thad is black...isn't it? You don't think a black man can get these guys to hit? You think all blacks should get out of baseball and stick to monkeying around on the basketball court? Fucking biggot.
Holy crapballs, Whitt. Two good strong posts today. Also of concern is Rhodes and Oliver getting worn out early and them pitching even less effectively in August and September, but I don't think there's a choice right now. I like Feliz saying he's a closer. A top-notch closer needs that kind of "screw you, I'm doing this" attitude. If Nolan wants him to start, Nolan will get his way, but let's worry about that next spring. Gagreed with Chuck, Kinsler has put his Captain Uppercut cape back on. Why he can't level his swing out and slap the ball opposite field I'll never know. He needs to emulate Young, not Cruz. I still vote to put him on the trading block and dump him on someone unsuspecting of his overrated hitting status. And a mini-report of traveling to Oakland--not as bad as I would've thought. A good baseball atmosphere there, considering that dump of a football stajium that hasn't been updated in years. Oakland has dedicated, great fans. You couldn't pay me to go to a Raiders game in that hell hole, though.
That is racists. Just b/c they are both black does not make them 'the same pitcher. Fucking Biggot.
Team batting average is seventh in the majors and third in the American League.
If anyone doesnt think the extra innings in spring training havent affected him or wont in the future, you are strongly mistaken. This 15 days off may be the best thing for him. And if Ogando can keep pitching well, we wont need neftali in the rotation. Does anyone else think its completely idiotic to bring in Rhodes and Oliver back to back in the same game. they are hte same pitcher for fucks sake, same pitching motion and same pitches and they are not fooling anyone.
Did you miss the part where he backed off those comments the same damn day to Jeff Wilson? He said he's focused on being the closer and would "talk about it again" after the season, it being moving to the rotation.
Ian Kinsler is absolutely lost at the plate. It's time to designate this bad-attitude punk to the minors. Team batting average is the worst in the league right now. Thad Bosley doesn't seem like the right replacement for Hurdle.