Posts Tagged ‘Neftali Feliz’

Texas Rangers Sign Joe Nathan, Move Neftali Feliz to Rotation

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 21st, 2011

The Texas Rangers inked closer Joe Nathan to a two-year contract Monday night for $14 million with a team option in the third year of the deal worth $9 million or a $500,000 buyout. Next year will be his second season removed from Tommy John surgery and the second half of the 2011 season showed improvement by Nathan as he posted a 3.91 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with a .207 batting average against.

From a fantasy baseball perspective, the big news of this transaction by the Rangers was it means that former closer Neftali Feliz will be headed to the starting rotation. Feliz has never started a game in the major leagues after having 54 starts in the minor leagues across several different levels of play. Feliz split his 2009 season at Oklahoma City in Triple-A between the starting rotation and the bullpen. His strikeout numbers I would expect to go down as he is not going to be able to air out like he could in one inning of work as a closer, but I would still expect to see a strikeout rate of 7.5 – 8 per nine innings of work.

Of bigger worry for fantasy baseball owners of Feliz is his control issues which showed up again in 2011 with 4.3 walks per nine innings after he average 3.87 walks per nine in the minor leagues. Walk rates like that are going to lead to high pitch counts as a starting pitcher which in turns leads to less innings and less of a chance for wins. I would rank Feliz in the upper third of starting pitchers in mixed -league formats but his upside his limited until he can get his control of the strike zone back like he had it in his first two seasons in the major leagues.

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2011 Fantasy Baseball Closer Report – Week 5

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 26th, 2011

We saw several new closers emerge in the American League in week 4 as the Darren Oliver and Arthur Rhodes both claimed saves in the Texas Rangers bullpen last week when Neftali Feliz went on the disabled list. Oliver had thrown two consecutive days when Rhodes picked up his save so I still expect Oliver to be the lead dog for now.

After weeks of wreckage in the Chicago White Sox bullpen, the one pitcher that had remained unscathed got the save opportunity on Sunday as Sergio Santos earned his second career save. Santos will likely get the next couple of opportunities and if he does well, he will have a good shot of earning the job for the foreseeable future. Santos has been unscored upon in 11 innings this season with 14 strikeouts.

It looks like Ryan Madson will not have to wait until 2012 after all when he is a free agent to become closer. The Philadelphia Phillies moved him into that role over the weekend when Jose Contreras was placed on the disabled list. Madson collected two saves and now sports a 1.00 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP.

Mitchell Boggs had smooth sailing in his first week as closer for the St. Louis Cardinals as he was a perfect 3-for-3 on saves with three strikeouts. Eduardo Sanchez looks like he owns the 8th inning role now and it a good pickup if you are looking for strikeouts in your bullpen.

Drew Storen looks to be the man in Washington Nationals bullpen over Sean Burnett after earning two saves last week. Storen has put his spring struggles behind him and is cruising with a 0.71 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. If you did not pick him up on waivers or via trade the first few weeks of the season, you have likely missed your window.

Amazingly the person with the most blown saves in the American League was Mariano Rivera last week as he allowed his first runs of the season in blowing two saves. In those two outings, Rivera allowed six hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings.

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2011 Fantasy Baseball Lineup Planner – Week 5

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 24th, 2011

Here is a look at the latest news and notes from around major league baseball to help you set your fantasy baseball lineup for week 5 (April 25 – May 1)  of the 2011 fantasy baseball season.

American League:

Darren Oliver is the new closer in Texas with Neftali Feliz headed to the disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder . Oliver snared his first save of the season on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals and has a 1.93 ERA with a .54 WHIP through 9 1/3 innings in 2011.

Carlos Carrasco of the Cleveland Indians left his start early on Sunday against the Minnestoa Twins with elbow tightness. It is best to reserve him for now until more information becomes available on the seriousness of the issue.

Jesse Litsch is headed back to the major leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays and will get the start in place of Brett Cecil who was demoted to Triple-A. Litsch will have a tough start Tuesday at Texas against Matt Harrison.

Second basemen Aaron Hill is headed to the disabled list with hamstring issues for the Blue Jays and will miss the next two weeks of action. Mike McCoy and John McDonald should see additional at bats in Hill’s absence.

National League:

Ryan Madson has taken over as the closer in Philadelphia after Jose Contreras was placed on the disabled Sunday. Madson picked up saves on Friday and Saturday and has a 1.00 ERA with a .89 WHIP for the season.

Third basemen Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds was placed on the disabled list with a strained shoulder. Miguel Cairo will step in at the hot corner in his place and see the majority of at bats. Cairo is hitting .286 on the season with a home run and seven RBI.

Willie Bloomquist has missed the last three games for the Arizona Diamondbacks with a hamstring injury and is considered day-to-day. If you have other options for your fantasy baseball lineup, I would look to start someone in place of him next week.

Florida Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison was placed on the disabled list earlier in the week and will miss 2-4 weeks. Emilio Bonifacio and Scott Cousins will see more at bats in the outfield while Morrison is out.

Two Start Pitchers:

A couple of updates for starting rotations for next week. Bronson Arroyo has been pushed up to Monday by the Cincinnati Reds making him a two-start pitcher in week 5 and knocking Sam LeCure down to one start. Jordan Zimmermann will get the start on Tuesday for the Washington Nationals which gives him two starts for the week as well. Chris Young returns from the disabled list for the New York Mets and will start on Tuesday, giving him two starts for the week. His return bumps R.A. Dickey back a day which means he will only get one start now.

To help set your pitching rotation for next week, check out the week 5, two start pitchers.

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The Daily Dirt from Monday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 13th, 2010

It was a day for the five home run club as several hitters clubbed home run numero cinco on the year. Vernon Wells (Toronto), Nelson Cruz (Texas) and Albert Pujols (St. Louis) all went deep to take the major league lead in home runs. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Monday…

Hitters:

Scott Podsednik went 4-for-5 with three RBI and stole his 5th base of the season.

Ryan Braun went 2-for-4 and knocked in four runs, three coming on his second home run of the year.

Shin-Soo Choo went 3-for-3 with two runs scored as he hit his second home run of the season and stole his third base of the year.

Kyle Blanks went 3-for-5 with five RBI as he blasted his second home run of the year to lead the San Diego Padres to a 17-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Will Venable chipped in by going 3-for-5 with four runs scored. Venable hit his second home run of the year and also stole his first base of the season.

Carl Crawford went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and hit his first home run of the year.

Scott Rolen went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two home runs, giving him three long balls on the season.

Andruw Jones went 3-for-4 with four RBI and knocked out his first two home runs of the season.

Bengie Molina went 4-for-4 with four RBI and hit his first home run of the season for the San Francisco Giants.

Not a good day for Brian Roberts of the Baltimore Orioles as he was placed on the disabled list and also received an epidural injection in his back. Julio Lugo should see the majority of time at second base while Roberts is out.

Pitchers:

Carl Pavano picked up his second win of the year, allowing one run in six innings with four strikeouts.

Adam Wainwright tossed eight shutout innings with seven strikeouts to pick up victory number two on the year.

Justin Duchscherer worked 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits with four strikeouts.

Matt Garza allowed one run in eight innings with five strikeouts to earn his second win of the season.

Closers:

Neftali Feliz picked up his first save of the season for the Texas Rangers, working a scoreless inning with one strikeout.

Chris Perez was pulled from a tie game in the ninth inning after allowing a double, committing an error on a bunt and then surrendering a walk to load the bases without recording an out

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The Daily Dirt from Saturday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 10th, 2010

The first week of the baseball season just re-affirms the rule of not wasting a high draft pick on a closer because of the good chance you can find saves late in the draft or through free agency. The leader in the clubhouse with week one almost complete, Jon Rauch of the Minnesota Twins who saved his 4th game in the Twins 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. In other fantasy baseball news from around the diamond on Saturday…

Hitters:

Jose Reyes returned from the disabled list for the New York Mets and went 1-for-4 hitting lead off. It is safe to get him active in all formats for next week.

Not the way you want your first start in the major leagues to go, Juan Francisco went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for the Cincinnati Reds.

Jason Varitek played for the first time this season and delivered two solo home runs to power the Boston Red Sox offense.

Ryan Howard went 2-for-4 with three RBI and is well on his way to another 40+ home run season with his third dinger of the year.

Nelson Cruz slugged his 4th home of the season and looks ready to duplicate his 30+ home runs from last year.

I have caught two of the Atlanta Braves games this season and in each one I have seen Troy Glaus made a terrible play at first base. I know the Braves have him there for offense and not his defense, but if he is not slugging home runs by May and still playing that type of defense and if the team is in the race for the playoffs, I have to think they make a move at that position.

Pitchers:

Scott Baker was much better in his second start, allowing one run in seven innings with three strikeouts.

Jeremy Bonderman picked up his first win in almost two years, allowing one hit in five innings with five strikeouts.

Carlos Zambrano allowed three runs in seven innings with nine strikeouts to notch his first win of the season.

Rookie Jaime Garcia worked six solid innings, allowing one run with five strikeouts to pick up the win. Garcia struggled with his control throughout the game, pitching first-pitch strikes to only 9 of 25 hitters, but helped his cause by recording 10 ground ball outs.

CC Sabathia lost a no-hitter in the 8th inning and finished with 7 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts. It would have been interesting to see if he had made it through the eighth without allowing a hit if the Yankees would have send him back out for the ninth as he threw 111 pitches.

Dana Eveland tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings with two strikeouts to pick up the win for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jered Weaver allowed one run in six innings with seven strikeouts but received a no decision.

Closers:

Ryan Perry picked up a save for the Detroit Tigers with Jose Valverde getting the night off after already working in four games this week.

Matt Capps sure does like to make hings interesting as he loaded the bases in the ninth innings before getting Rod Barajas to line out to save his second game of the season.

It looks like Neftali Feliz might have some value after all this year after Frank Francisco blew his second save of the season. Francisco has given up three runs in each of his last two appearances, leaving him with a 27 ERA.

George Sherrill got the chance to close out the Los Angeles Dodgers win after Jonathan Broxton pitched the previous two days, but he was not up to the task, has the Florida Marlins rallied for the win with three runs in the ninth inning

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Spring Training News & Notes from Wednesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 11th, 2010

Here is a look at the Spring Training News & Notes from Tuesday. The news & notes are focused on changes that affect players value as well as players coming back off of injuries or rookies that might make an impact.

Hitters:

Jose Bautista hit his third home run of the spring and is a good source of late game power in a draft as the starting right fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays if you team can support his low batting average.

Marlon Byrd might be able to retain his breakout numbers from last season as it looks like he will be hitting second in the Chicago Cubs line up after Ryan Theriot and in front of Derrek Lee.

After seeing 200 at bats in the one slot in the batting order in 2009, it looks like Aaron Rowand will be taking up full-time residence there in 2010, which should give him a boost in runs scored this season.

Pitchers:

Kris Medlen tossed three shutout innings with two strikeouts. I wrote about him last week in 2010 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers. The talent is there and he will get an opportunity at some point this year as a starter.

Joba Chamberlain was bombed, allowing six runs in 2 1/3 innings with three walks. History has shown that his numbers are much better as a relief pitcher so I have Phil Hughes penciled in for the fifth starter spot.

I put Neftali Feliz in the same boat as Joba right now. It does not look like Feliz will be making the transition to starter which limits his value if he is only a seventh or eighth inning set up man. He allowed four runs on four hits in two innings on Wednesday.

It looks like Ben Sheets still has some rust to shake off after allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings for the Oakland A’s.

After missing part of the 2008 season and all of 2009, Jeff Francis is back on the hill for the Colorado Rockies. He tossed three shutout innings with two strikeouts on Wednesday.

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